Beyond Recollection
by Skye007lex
Summary: Sonny wakes to find he has no memory of the past year in a half...and so much has changed.
1. Retrospection

Title: Beyond Recollection  
  
Author: Skye007lex  
  
Rating: Pg-13  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters they all belong to whoever they belong to  
  
Author's Note: Sonny & Skye Romance, Journey, and Jason & Skye friendship.  
  
Summary: Sonny comes to find he has no recollection of the past year in a half.and a lot has changed (Sonny & Skye pairing)  
  
Chapter One ~ Retrospection  
  
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Sore was no where close to what Sonny was feeling. Pain was everywhere. The slightest movement caused him to wince, as he discovered yet another body part that ached. The only safe movement was blinking but even his eyes were sore. Dried and sensitive, he closed them immediately finding that the light only made it worse.  
  
'What happened to me?'  
  
He thought as he tried to process anything with the splitting headache that pounded at his temples. The last thing that he could remember clearly was the night that Faith was shot by her silent partner on the docks. He remembers how Carly had fallen into the lake and how they almost lost the baby. Everything after that was gone.  
  
'What happened?'  
  
'How long have I been here?'  
  
Mind set on getting some answers, Sonny slowly opened his eyes. Moments later they were quickly adjusting to the dimmed lights of his hospital room. It was very dark, the only light coming from a small lamp across the room. He thanked who ever had turned off the florescent lights that were customary in hospitals.  
  
'It was probably Carly's doing.'  
  
With courage Sonny lowered his eyes to his body. His right arm and leg were in cast, while his left arm held its own smaller bruises and bandages. The movement of his head caused a wave of dizziness to cloud him and a shooting pain tore through his neck.  
  
Slowly lifting his uncast left arm, he felt the thick material of his neck brace before moving on to his face. A small bandage on his forehead was all he found and he felt somewhat relieved. Moving his eyes back towards his cast limbs, he became aware of the sleeping body on his left.  
  
Her petit form was slouched over his hospital bed. With her head resting on his uninjured leg, one arm disappeared under the hair that had fallen over her face in her sleep. Her right hand resting on the white sheets of the bed.  
  
Her hair seemed too dark to be Carly's, but it could just be the lack of light in the room. Who else cared enough to stay at his bedside anyway?  
  
'It had to be Carly's.'  
  
A frown would have appeared on his face if he weren't in so much pain. The thought of her staying by his side all night slightly angered him. She was pregnant and needed her rest. She needed to be home and in their bed not in an uncomfortable hospitable chair, slouched over him.  
  
Slowly he grasped onto her hand, tangling his fingers with her own. She began to stir as his coarse thumb ran a trail over the back of her hand. His name was a whisper on her lips as she started to wake. He watched their connected hand as her grip tightened for a moment before relaxing.  
  
He continued to watch how their hands just seemed to fit together perfectly. He didn't know why but he had never noticed that before. After realizing he had been lost in his own thoughts as a small giggle came from her. It was then that he raised his gaze to smile into the eyes of the woman he loved.  
  
'Skye?'  
  
'What's going on?'  
  
'What the hell is she doing here and where is my wife?'  
  
Almost immediately his smile was gone and his was pulling his hand from her own, feeling as though he had been burned. Closing his eyes he willed this nightmare to be over.  
  
"Oh I'm so sorry, Sonny!" she started. "I didn't hurt you did I?"  
  
He opened his eyes at her words. And with a confused expression he looked towards his enemy and wondered why he thought her tone had sounded almost caring.  
  
"I wasn't thinking," she started to ramble. "I'm sorry I fell asleep on you. Are you alright?"  
  
He found it rather odd that Skye was suddenly worried about his well being. Maybe she was drunk - but she didn't look like she had been drinking. He could only offer a nod, assuring her that she had not caused him pain.  
  
"I've been so worried about you," her voice trembled slightly and Sonny found himself shocked to see tears forming. "Everyone has been. Jason and Courtney are stopping by today. They'll be so happy to see you're awake."  
  
"Thank G-d this is over!" Skye declared as she wiped a fallen tear and stood. At first he though she was leaving but as she leaned forward he quickly backed a way.  
  
"Don't," he spoke just before her lips touched his. "What are you doing here, Skye?" She seemed slightly confused by his words and his actions towards her presence.  
  
"Were else should I be? You're here. I could never leave your side, especially when you're hurt."  
  
"Have you been drinking Skye?" he asked and watched as she became upset by his inquest.  
  
"No," she professed. "Why would you ask me that? You know I haven't had a drink in over a year."  
  
"Over a year," he laughed harshly at her, sick of her lies. "You've been drinking since Brenda left and you realized Jax still didn't want you."  
  
"What has Jax got to do with anything?" She shouted, the anger in her voice undeniable.  
  
"Just get out! I'm sick of you," he shouted himself. He didn't need her games today.  
  
"Sonny?"  
  
"Get out!" his words causing her jump and stumble backwards.  
  
"What is wrong with you?" She asked as tears of hurt clouded her vision. "Why are you acting like this?" Skye questioned as she moved to place his hand in her own.  
  
"Don't touch me!"  
  
"Sonny? Skye?" Jason's voice emerged from the opening doorway. "What's wrong?" he asked as he stepped fully into the room, followed by Courtney who moved beside Skye, giving her a quetioning glance.  
  
"Get her out of my sight!" He gestured to Skye and became even more enraged when Jason ignored his order.  
  
"What happened?" He asked moving towards his sister, wiping a remaining tear away.  
  
"I don't know," Skye answered. "He's been like this since he woke up."  
  
"Jason! Did you hear me or not? Get her out of here!" Sonny shouted causing Skye to jump back slightly, bumping into Courtney.  
  
"Sonny just wait-" he began.  
  
"No! Get her out and find Carly."  
  
"What?" Skye asked with fury.  
  
"I want to see her. Where is she?" he asked looking at Jason, ignoring Skye's sudden anger.  
  
"I'm not sure were Carly is, Sonny." He answered truthfully, looking at him with puzzlement.  
  
"How can you not know where she is?" He yelled causing his headache to grow immensely.  
  
"It's not his job to keep tabs on your ex - wives, Sonny." Courtney stated, putting her arm around Skye, trying to calm her as she looked to Sonny with rage.  
  
"Did I ask you? You do not get involved with my business! This is why I don't want you two seeing each other," he stated again talking to Jason. "You need to end this now."  
  
"How can you say that Sonny?" Courtney asked. "We're married."  
  
"YOU WENT BEHIND MY BACK?"  
  
"We were there Sonny," Skye stated.  
  
"Shut up! All of you shut up and get out!"  
  
"Sonny -  
  
"No, get out!"  
  
"Just answer one thing, Sonny," Jason asked moving closer to his friend. "What is the date?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"The date, what is it?" he asked again, no longer looking confused.  
  
"I'm not sure of the exact one," Sonny trailed off.  
  
"Just try."  
  
"Around the 10th of April."  
  
"What year?"  
  
"2003," he answered, becoming even more confused when Courtney covered her mouth in shock and Skye's eyes widened before she ran out of the room.  
  
"What the hell is going on?" he asked as Courtney left the room, chasing after Skye.  
  
"Sonny, today is October 12, 2004."  
  
~ TBC ~ 


	2. Reality Sets

Beyond recollection ~ Sonny & Skye FanFiction  
  
Chapter Two ~ Reality  
  
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"Sonny, today is October 12, 2004."  
  
"What? How can that be?" Sonny asked, praying that he was still trapped in a dream.  
  
"Today is Wednesday," Jason began. "Last Saturday you were hit by a drunk driver. Beside the broken leg and wrists, the doctors said you'd be fine. I don't know why you can't remember."  
  
"Jason, this is some kind of nightmare." Sonny closed his eyes, his head slumping back against his pillow. "I have no memory of the past year and a half."  
  
An uncomfortable silence grew between the two. Unable of how to comfort his friend, Jason sat and waited for the questions that Sonny would need answered. After a few moments they began.  
  
"Jason," Sonny's voice was thick with emotion.  
  
"Yeah, Sonny."  
  
"Why isn't Carly here?" Slowly Sonny opened his eyes as he awaited the answer he was dreading.  
  
"What is the last thing you remember?"  
  
"The day she fell through the ice," he answered, waiting for Jason to raise his eyes to meet his own. Slowly Jason did, his expression somber toward his friend.  
  
"You filed for divorce after you learned she had been having an affair," Jason paused letting what he said sink in before he delivered an even harder truth. "After you learned that the baby she was carrying was not your own."  
  
Devastation was the first thing Sonny felt. It was soon joined with anger and a feeling of complete loss. He had nothing now. No wife and no child - nothing to live for but an unbearable hell.  
  
"Who is the father?" he asked softly unable to look at Jason, eyes focussed on a crack in the ceiling.  
  
"Ric," Jason stated. Sonny's eyes clenched shut. Anger flooded through Jason as he watched his friend suffer, for the second time because of Carly. It all seemed so unfair.  
  
'Why now?'  
  
'Why him?'  
  
'Why them?'  
  
Jason thought these questions to himself, becoming unsure what else Sonny should be told. Much had happened over the past year and already he seemed ready to give up.  
  
"Jason," Sonny began his voice beginning to crack. "I want to be alone."  
  
He was.  
  
Everywhere it mattered he felt alone, abandoned, discarded, forgotten.  
  
The pain in his friend brought a sudden pang of grief to Jason. His recovery would be a long and suffering one. Sonny not only is to over come his recent injuries but now he has to face the past and present.  
  
Standing silently, Jason made his way through the dim room. Just as his hand grasped onto the cool metal doorknob, Sonny stopped him.  
  
"Jason?"  
  
"Yeah," he answered turning towards the bed. Sonny lowered his eyes, a question lingering on his lips. "What is it?" Jason asked stepping closer.  
  
"Why was Skye here?" Sonny finally asked before meeting Jason's stare. "Has so much really changed?" His expression seemed almost tragic and lost.  
  
"I'm not the one that can explain that," Jason started. "But I do know that you two became very close."  
  
"How did that happen?" Jason let out a small chuckle towards Sonny's inquest.  
  
"I know this must seem really strange to you," he began. "You both were going through a rough spot and I guess it helped forge a bond almost."  
  
"Has she been drinking?"  
  
"No, not since I've seen you two together," Jason acknowledged truthfully. "I think you've been helping her."  
  
"I feel like I'm trapped in some nightmare. It all seems fake," Sonny admitted looking towards his friend.  
  
"I know this must be hard for you -  
  
"You have no idea how hard it is, Jason." Sonny's voice trembling with emotion.  
  
"It's not any easier for Skye."  
  
"Jason -  
  
"Just hear me out," he cut into Sonny's protest. "You can't remember - but she can. She knows you Sonny and you got to know her. You were friends and then you became closer. How close, I really can't say. Only she can answer that." For the first time Sonny began to hear the truth in Jason words. "The memories of the past year are still very real for her. Please just go easy on her, she just lost her best friend."  
  
His words hit Sonny hard and deeply. The image of Skye waking earlier entered his thoughts. She had looked so relieved to see his was all right.  
  
She looked happy.  
  
"Get some rest, Sonny. We'll be back tomorrow," Jason said before he left Sonny with his thoughts for the night.  
  
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A silent sob wracked her body as she ran down the hall, wishing to escape this new nightmare. Pushing past nurses and hospital visitors, her thoughts raced over the scene that had just played out. Finding it suddenly hard to breathe, Skye turned into an empty hallway and fell to the ground. Leaning against the hard and comfortless wall she pulled her knees close to her chest and willed it all to go away.  
  
Courtney would have run past the small corridor if she hadn't seen Skye turn into it. She stood still, momentarily frozen at the sight before her. Skye portrayed not her usual strong image, but now one of a lost and powerless woman. Unprotected to the pain crowding her.  
  
"Skye," she started gently, kneeling before her friend. "Are you alright?"  
  
'Stupid question Courtney!' she scolded herself.  
  
She received no reply, Skye hadn't even acknowledged her presence. She just sat in front of her, head lowered against her knees and her shoulders trembling.  
  
"Skye, please look at me," she pressed on, putting her hand gently on Skye's shoulder. Slowly she began to raise her head. Dreary and filled with unshed tears, her eyes mirrored sorrow. Biting at her trembling lower lip she looked to Courtney for the comfort she so desperately needed.  
  
"This just had to happen now, didn't it?" Skye asked as Courtney lowered herself to floor, pulling her into a comforting embrace. "I should have guessed something like this would have happened. I can never keep happiness."  
  
"I'm so sorry, Skye." She fought the urge to shed her own tears due to her friend's pain.  
  
"Oh, it's no ones fault but my own," she started, her self-destructive thoughts poisoning her. "I'll never be aloud to have happiness."  
  
"Skye, don't -  
  
"You know, this is probably some sign telling me that Sonny would be better off without me."  
  
"You know that's not true," Courtney protested. "You and my brother are in love."  
  
"I can assure you that he no longer feels anything for me. All I am to him is the lying and manipulating whore he once saw me as."  
  
"That was before he knew you, Skye. Its not like you always thought so highly of him."  
  
"I just - I feel so alone," Skye admitted.  
  
"You're not alone, Skye. Jason and I will always be here and will get you two through this. Don't give up on my brother, Skye. Please."  
  
"You know I won't," Skye whispered lowering her eyes. "It just seems unfair that we have to start from the beginning again."  
  
"We don't even know if this is permanent, Skye. It's late. We all should go home and get some rest. Tomorrow we'll talk to the doctors and see what's up. Ok?"  
  
"It doesn't feel right leaving him here," she admitted.  
  
"We have to give him some time to process all this," Courtney stated pulling Skye to her feet. "We can't do anything more for him tonight."  
  
Skye didn't know how to respond. In her heart she wanted and needed to stay with him but as reality hit her again she knew he didn't want her.  
  
"Come on, we'll drive you," Courtney said before leading Skye away.  
  
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The elevator ride to the penthouse was an uncomfortable one. Skye could almost see the clouds of pity forming around her as she stood in silence next to her brother and Courtney. She had declined their offer to spend the night across the hall with them. Watching them together was only making it harder.  
  
A soft 'ding' announced they had reached their floor. Stepping out into the hall, Skye once again declined their invitation. Giving a final hug to each, she watched the door to their penthouse close before she made her way towards hers.  
  
"Hey, Max," she offered the familiar face guarding her home, before entering it. Sonny's scent flooded her senses immediately and she fought against the tears that demanded release. Setting her purse and coat on the desk, his note from that night fell to the floor. With hands shacking she bent and retrieved it, holding it close as she lowered her self into the desk chair.  
  
Unable to hold out any longer she let her eyes read over the words that he had written five nights ago.  
  
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Skye,  
  
I have to run an errand quickly but when I get back the rest of the night is for us. I have a surprise for you. So get out of that suit and get comfortable, I'll be home soon.  
  
S  
  
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She had been working late that night. By the time she got home and read his note she was already getting the call from Jason at the hospital.  
  
She couldn't help but think that if had just been home earlier, that he wouldn't have gone out at all. Wallowing in guilt and grief, Skye made her way upstairs in need of a dreamless night.  
  
~ TBC ~  
  
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(A/N) Ok, im changing a few things as u can see. Carly was not raped by Ric, instead they had an affair. Since I don't like either of them I said "what the hell" and put em together. Besides, I doubt any Carly fans are reading my stories anyway :) 


	3. Hidden Wounds

Beyond Recollection ~ Sonny & Skye FanFiction  
  
Chapter Three ~ Hidden Wounds  
  
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He woke to sunlight warming his face. Blinking his eyes rapidly he noticed that the light no longer pained his eyes. The soft breeze now entering through the single window calmed him. It was soothing to feel the fresh air against his haggard skin. This new comfort almost let him forget the troubles of waking - until he heard her voice.  
  
"The nurse's said they that gave you something for your head this morning. So I thought a bit of fresh air would help."  
  
"Don't sound so proud of yourself. It's just a window," Sonny bit out without turning towards Skye.  
  
"I wasn't. I just wanted to make sure you didn't think you had any other visitor's - because you haven't," she replied in the same tone of voice he had shown her.  
  
"What do you want?" he asked as he continued to look away from her.  
  
"I want your money."  
  
"What -," he began turning to face her but stopping as he noticed the playfulness of her eyes. "That wasn't funny."  
  
"Well, at least you're looking at me now," Skye remarked with a small grin. "I brought you something." Sonny watched as she began to look for something at her feet. Concentrating on her task, Skye never once noticed the look Sonny gave her.  
  
The sunlight softly enhanced her features, and she looked radiant to Sonny. The circles that had been present under her eyes the night before where smaller, almost invisible. He watched, almost mesmerized, as she pushed aside a fallen strand of her auburn hair and tucked it behind her ear. Drawn again to the gracefulness of her pale hands, he suddenly had to force the idea of touching her again out of his thoughts.  
  
"What did you bring?" he asked looking down at his own hands, not wanting to be caught studying her for the second time.  
  
"Breakfast," She answered, placing a small paper bag on the table next to his bed. Seeing the frown towards her friendly offering she continued, "Unless you'd rather eat what the hospital provides."  
  
Admitting defeat, he nodded his head 'no' before he tried to raise himself into a sitting position.  
  
"Sonny, stop," spoke Skye as she rested her hand on his arm. Caught off guard by her sudden closeness, he froze. "You're going to hurt yourself trying to reach that button."  
  
"I can reach it," Sonny was quick to defend his pride. Brushing off her arm he started to reach for the switch that would raise his bed.  
  
"Sonny!" she said more sternly. "Stop being so stubborn. It's too far for you to reach in that position. Just let me help you - it won't kill you."  
  
"How do you know?" He bit out sarcastically. Before Skye could hide it, hurt flashed in her eyes and she pulled back slightly.  
  
"Do you want to hurt yourself?" She asked once recovering, almost sighing in relief as he laid back against his pillow in frustration. She stood again, leaning over him to reach the small switch.  
  
'This was a bad idea!' Sonny scolded himself at the feel of her chest pressed against him. Before he could protest though, the material of her white cardigan fell, exposing the skin hidden underneath it. He almost moaned out loud at the sensation looking at her caused. It was then that he noticed it.  
  
Just above her right breast was a single scar. In length it was no longer than his ring finger but it looked like it had been deep and painful. Sonny's eyes fell shut as the room around him began to spin. There was something about that scar and he tried with all his might to focus on it.  
  
"Sonny?"  
  
An imaged began to blur in his thoughts and he concentrated harder, trying to not lose the picture that was forming. But it was no use, within seconds it was gone and he was back in his hospital room.  
  
"Sonny? Are you ok?" Skye's worried voice forcing his eyes to open. "Should I get the doctor?"  
  
"No, I'm fine," he answered gruffly, angry with himself for losing the thought.  
  
"What happened?" Skye asked from her seat beside his bed. It was then that he noticed she had finished raising his bed without him even noticing.  
  
"I thought I was remembering something," he said and tried to ignore how her eyes brightened. "But it's gone. I lost it."  
  
"Oh," was all Skye could say before she masked her disappointment and began taking out their breakfast.  
  
"What is that?" Sonny asked after she placed a thermos on the table.  
  
"It's green tea," she answered before she reached back into the bag.  
  
"I don't drink tea," he said harshly still angry with himself, taking it out on her.  
  
"I know," she answered before she placed a smaller one in front of him. "I brought you coffee."  
  
"I hope you didn't add any crap in it because -," he started rudely before Skye cut in.  
  
"Its black with one sugar. No crap was added," she answered pulling more items from the bag.  
  
"That's how I like it," he replied after taking a small sip.  
  
"I know," She stated simply as she handed him a muffin.  
  
"What kind is that, I only eat -."  
  
"Blueberry. I know," she surprised a grin towards Sonny's look of annoyance.  
  
"You think you 'KNOW' a lot don't you," he bit out not touching the breakfast she brought for him.  
  
"I like to think that," she grinned broadly before biting into the banana she brought for herself.  
  
"You really are frustrating you know."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Skye!"  
  
"I'm sorry," she laughed. "I'll stop now."  
  
"Do you always do this?" he asked annoyed.  
  
"I said I was sorry."  
  
"I don't need this right now alright," he added with frustration.  
  
"And you think I need this - or want it?" she asked raising her voice. "You think I want this for you?" She stood and began pacing next to his bed. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"  
  
Worried that he had upset her he spoke the first sentence that came to mind, "I'm sorry." Both looked at each other, shocked by his admission.  
  
"I - I mean don't get upset," he tried to cover. "I don't need you to start crying again."  
  
"Now who's the frustrating one?" She barely was able to keep her voice down due to her anger towards his attitude. "I could really do without the quips and remarks. This isn't easy on anyone."  
  
"Yeah, well it's the hardest on me!"  
  
"It's equally hard on all of us, Sonny!" She spoke standing toe to toe with him. "So, don't even dare say that! Nothing has changed for you! You're stuck in the past while the rest of us are living the present without you! And that's hard enough!"  
  
"You don't think it's hard for me?" Sonny yelled back.  
  
"I know it is! But until you except the fact that you might need a little help getting through this you'll get nowhere!" Skye finished, a silent tear escaping its boundary.  
  
"Look, I'm sorry," Sonny admitted, not wanting to upset her anymore.  
  
"Don't give me your pity! I don't want it!"  
  
"Fine!"  
  
"Fine!"  
  
Even though Sonny was angry with Skye's sudden out burst he could help but notice the way she looked when she was angry. She breathed heavily causing her chest to rise and fall more violently then before. It seemed she was pushing back strands of hair every second as they continued to fall in her face, pissing her off even more.  
  
"What are you staring at?" she bit out crossing her arms across her chest defiantly.  
  
"Angry is a good look for you," he replied with a small grin before he bit into his muffin, pretending to ignore her confused stare.  
  
Unsure why he had just told her what he had, she moved back to her chair, questioning his motives. She smoothed out her skirt and while lowering herself onto the chair beside his bed, Sonny again noticed the scar on her chest. During her outburst the top button of her cardigan had come undone, unmasking a portion of the hidden wound.  
  
Looking up Skye noticed where Sonny's gaze had fallen. She glanced down curious as to why his eyes were glued to her. A small cry escaped her and she quickly pulled the edges of her shirt together tightly. Her cheeks turning slightly pale as she again stood and retrieved her purse from the floor.  
  
"I have to go," she spoke quickly still holding her hand to her chest, trying to hide what Sonny knew he had seen.  
  
"Skye, wait," Sonny spoke as she quickly moved towards the door. "Don't -."  
  
"Stop," she cut in. "Don't open doors you aren't ready to walk through Sonny. Eat your breakfast before the nurse's see it. I'll be back with Jason and Courtney."  
  
And then she was gone - leaving Sonny, for the first time, worried about her.  
  
~ TBC ~ 


	4. Reflections

Beyond Recollection ~ A Sonny & Skye FanFiction  
  
Chapter Four ~ Reflections  
  
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As much as she wished it so, closing the door behind her did nothing to shut out the memories of that night. Skye clenched her eyes shut and braced herself against the door to Sonny's room. One by one each scream echoed in her thoughts. The memories of the bruises and suffering received flashed like lightening, blinding her. The final torment coming with the memory of his knife.  
  
'Stop,' she begged her mind. 'Please stop.'  
  
"Ms. Quartermaine?" A woman's voice pulled her free of her tormenting thoughts. Taking a moment to catch her breath and to slow down her speeding heart, Skye looked up at the woman still slightly rattled. "Are you ok Ms?" she asked noticing the layer of sweat on Skye's brow.  
  
"Yes I'm fine," Skye told to the young nurse. "I'm sorry, did you need me?"  
  
"I was told to leave Mr. Corinthos' personal belongings with you by Dr. Quartermaine," she stated holding up the plastic bag she carried. "The clothes aren't really salvageable but there are a few other items."  
  
"Thank you," Skye replied taking the bag with a shaking hand.  
  
"Are you sure you're all right?"  
  
"Yes, I'm fine. Could you just tell my father thank you for me," she asked. After the nurse agreed to, Skye walked to the elevators, clutching the bag to her chest as she stepped inside.  
  
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Her journey home was made in a complete daze. Skye's thoughts struggled with the idea of Sonny asking her questions the moment she returned to the hospital. She knew she wasn't ready to open up to him about that night - the first time had been hard enough. She just wasn't ready. He would have to understand that.  
  
'Yeah right,' she thought to her self with a laugh, closing the door to their penthouse behind her. 'He never lets anything go. He's too stubborn.'  
  
Setting her purse and coat on the desk, she made her way up stairs. The bag, which held Sonny's things, was still clutched in her arms. Skye stared down at it with hesitance, knowing that opening it would only make everything harder. Reaching the bedroom, she placed it on the bed trying to put it off as long as she could.  
  
Moving to her bureau, she opened the doors in search of shirt that would keep everything hidden. Settling for a simple pale blue sweater, Skye began remove her cardigan. Cursing its flimsy buttons, she tossed it to the floor with aggravation. Just before she could pull the sweater over her head, she caught her reflection in the mirror and froze. The scar Sonny had discovered was now in plain view as well as its partner on her left side. Slowly her hand moved to her side, tracing the raised skin.  
  
As if burned, Skye pulled her hand away from the scar. Quickly she pulled the sweater on while moving away from the mirror. Unable to look at herself anymore, she shifted completely out of view from the glass by lowering herself onto the bed. Motionless, she stared off into nothing fighting off the memories that haunted her nightmares.  
  
In need of a distraction she pulled the bag of Sonny's things into her lap. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself for this next task. Slowly she emptied its contents onto the mattress beside her, tears forming at the condition of his clothes. Torn and stained with crimson, she quickly pushed them back into the bag. It was no use keeping them.  
  
Now left on the bed was Sonny's watch and his mother's gold cross.  
  
A welcomed smile forming on her face as she gently picked up the cross. The hunt for this tiny heirloom had been a difficult one. Only able to go on the description from Sonny's memories, it had been an almost impossible task. But she had her mind set on finding it for him. She wanted to give him something special to show her gratefulness for what he had done for her.  
  
The necklace had belonged to Sonny's mother, passed down through the generations. As an antique it held great value, not only in his heart. Sonny had been too young to remember how it had been lost. A few years later, after his mother had passed, he had gone in search of it - coming up with nothing.  
  
Almost three months after 'it' had happen, Skye showed up at his door, carrying a small jewelry box in her hand. The look on his face was one she cherished, as were the tears that came from the grown man. The night she returned his mother's necklace to him was special to Skye in more ways than one.  
  
That night opened the door to their lasting friendship.  
  
Putting the cross back down on the mattress, Skye moved from her place on the bed. Going to Sonny's closet, she packed a small bag of clothes for him. Next she moved to the bathroom, picking up his toothbrush and other needed items, also putting them into the bag. After everything he would need for the next few nights was retrieved, she settled the bag down onto the bed. Picking up his watch and the cross, she packed them into the zipper compartment on the outside of the bag.  
  
Taking one last glance around the room, she checked for any forgotten items. Once satisfied she had retrieved everything she turned to leave, stopping as a small object caught her eye. Moving back towards the bed, she picked up the small white box. She had never seen the small box before and concluded that it must have fallen from the bag of Sonny's things. Skye set down the hospital bag and used her now free had to lift the lid.  
  
A small cry formed at her lips upon opening it. Nestled inside was a smaller black velvet box and inside that sat an elegant diamond ring. With a shaking hand she lifted the ring from its place. The cut was exquisite, the gold band only increasing its beauty. Studying it closely, Skye discovered the engraved words, hidden on the inside of the band.  
  
- Always & Forever -  
  
She could no longer stop her tears from escaping. Clutching the ring to her heart she fell to the floor. Hot tears burning her skin as a great pain twisted deep within her.  
  
She cried at the tenderness of his engraved words.  
  
She cried imagining him getting down on one knee and for the questioned he would have asked.  
  
She cried because he never had the chance.  
  
But she cried the hardest because her answer would have been 'yes'.  
  
~ TBC ~  
  
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A/N: sorry for the wait. I was a little stuck with this chapter. Thank you thank you thank you for the reviews - they do wonders for my ego! haha 


	5. Questions & Explanations

Beyond Recollection ~ A Sonny & Skye FanFiction  
  
Chapter Five ~ Questions & Explanations  
  
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"Skye!" Jason's concerned voice echoed through the hospital hall. "Where have you been?" he asked pulling her into a quick hug before moving to an unpopulated area of the hall.  
  
"I'm sorry if you were worried Jason. I just needed to be alone. Can you understand that?" Skye asked looking down at the blue sweater she had put on the day before. Yesterday morning, after she found the ring, she fled. Escaping to her car, she driven off to seclusion.  
  
"Yeah, I understand," he spoke softly taking her hand in his own. "We were just scared. I mean Courtney and I hadn't seen you since we gave you a ride home two days ago."  
  
"I stopped by yesterday," Skye admitted.  
  
"I know, Sonny told us," his name causing Skye to look down at her feet. "He also said you rushed out of here upset. What happened?"  
  
"Jason, don't."  
  
"Skye, were did you go? Why didn't you call or take a guard? You know it's not safe."  
  
"I needed to get away for awhile. I stopped home and got Sonny's things," she motioned to the leather bag she held.  
  
"You haven't been there this hole time." Jason stated rather than asked.  
  
"No, I wasn't," she admitted letting him take the bag from her grasp. "I just wanted to go somewhere to be alone and to do some thinking. Look, I'm back and that's what matters. Can we just drop it?"  
  
"You went 'there' didn't you?" Jason asked softly.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why would you put yourself through that Skye?"  
  
"Surprisingly it helped. That place holds wonderful memories of the past year and it was comforting to remember the good. It's going to help me get through the rest of this."  
  
Jason looked at his sister with admiration. Even before they became close he watched her over come some of the hardest obstacles a person could withstand, each time turning to alcohol to get her through it. This time though, her strength had taken her to the next level. She made it through one of the hardest weeks of her life - without one drink.  
  
"I'm proud of you, you know," he declared softly.  
  
"Dear G-d, why?" she laughed. "I haven't done anything."  
  
"This hasn't been easy for you. Being an alcoholic can't make it any easier."  
  
"Yeah, not to mention self-destructive," she added sarcastically.  
  
"I'm serious Skye," Jason's tone holding no doubt of his words. "When we couldn't find you, I was so scared you would end up in some bar. I'm glad you proved my fears wrong."  
  
"Don't give me so much credit. You don't know how close I really was to it," Skye acknowledged lowering her gaze from his intense one. "I found this in the bag of his things from the hospital." Slowly, with Jason's curious expression following her movements, she pulled a chain from underneath her sweater.  
  
As she let it rest now on the outside of her clothes, Jason could see the diamond ring hanging from the gold chain. He was speechless and could only pull her into a comforting embrace. Neither sibling could tell how long they stayed together, both of their thoughts focussed on the ring captured between them. Pulling back slowly, Jason open his mouth to end the silence but stopped once Skye held up her hand.  
  
"You don't have to say any thing. I've already thought about it more than I should have. Please, I don't want your pity," she asked with a saddened expression.  
  
"I wasn't going to give you pity, Skye," he answered truthfully watching as an uncomfortable expression fell over Skye's face. "Ok, how about a change in subject."  
  
"Yes, please."  
  
"They ran some tests on Sonny yesterday," Jason spoke as they slowly walked towards Sonny's room.  
  
"Are the results back?"  
  
"I was going to look for Tony, when I ran into you. They should be back today." As they turned the corner they spotted Tony and Courtney talking outside Sonny's room. Nearing the pair, Skye took a deep breath and hoped good news was on her way.  
  
"Skye!" Courtney exclaimed pulling her into her arms. "We were so scared - owe!" she exclaimed pulling back.  
  
"What?" Skye asked looking confused.  
  
"Your necklace stabbed me," she replied rubbing her chest. Looking down at the ring hanging from Skye's neck, her eyes widening. "Your necklace - is that -."  
  
"Later," Skye replied slipping the ring underneath her sweater before turning to Tony. "How's Sonny?"  
  
"The test results came back great. He is recovering better than I had hoped for. Sonny's injured leg and wrist are healing beautifully."  
  
"That's great," Courtney exclaimed.  
  
"At the earliest I'd say you can take him home Sunday," Tony stated with a smile.  
  
"But what about his memory? Is it permanent?" Skye asked with concern and a fearful expression.  
  
"Well, from the talk I had with him yesterday he is already beginning to remember," Tony replied looking to Skye.  
  
"What?" Courtney and Jason exclaimed.  
  
"The conversation with you, Skye, triggered something and he was almost able to remember. That's a good sign that this is not a permanent case."  
  
"What triggered it?" Jason asked Skye.  
  
"Um, he saw one of my scars," she replied looking away, her voice cracking emotionally. "He - he didn't remember though." Skye focussed her eyes on the closed blinds on the window to Sonny's room instead of the three pairs of eyes that were burning her skin.  
  
"It is a good sign though," Tony restated breaking the silence. "Sonny needs, like the incident with you," he motioned to Skye. "To experience some of the events he can no longer remember. Maybe using photographs, stories, or even visiting some memorable locations - any of these could spark something in his memory."  
  
"How long do you think it will take?" Courtney spoke up.  
  
"I can't say. That truly depends on you all and Sonny himself. Just be there for him and try to get him to experience the familiar routines he can no longer remember."  
  
"Thank you Tony," Skye said finally taking her eyes from the window. A new spark of hope was glittering there and on her expression as she moved to the door of Sonny's room.  
  
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Quickly as possible, Sonny hobbled away from the door, slumping painfully onto the bed just as Skye made her way inside. Putting the small leather bag on the chair she'd been accustomed to sitting in the past week, a playful smile crossed her face.  
  
"Enjoy your eavesdropping?" She asked standing in front of him. "You could have hurt yourself - did you hurt yourself?" she corrected looking to the leg dangling over the bed.  
  
"I'm fine," he answered gruffly. "Maybe if I wasn't treated like a child, then I wouldn't have to eavesdrop to find out how 'I' am doing."  
  
"Maybe if you weren't so stubborn you could have waited for us to tell you," she stated taking a seat next to him on the bed.  
  
"I needed to use the bathroom any way," he added looking slightly guilty.  
  
"So did you like what you overheard?" she teased pushing a strand of hair behind her ears and noticing how Sonny was mesmerized by her movements. She smiled softly at this and the memory that rushed into her thoughts.  
  
Nightmares were a reoccurring thing with Skye - especially after what she survived. Every time she woke he would be at her side, running his hands through her hair comforting her and lulling her to sleep. It always worked too. There was just something about his hands she loved. It amazed her what strength he had and how he had always been so gentle with her.  
  
"I'm looking foreword to getting outta here. I really hate hospitals," he admitted.  
  
"I know," she said before breaking into giggles at the expression he gave her.  
  
"Don't start that again," he groaned but the playfulness in his eyes was not lost to Skye. Also not lost was the way he itched at the hospital gown he was forced to wear.  
  
"Here," Skye said standing from the bed. "I brought you some clothes." Reaching into the bag she pulled out a pair of black cotton pants and a matching T-shirt.  
  
"Thank you," he replied after she tossed the pants into his lap, glaring jokingly as his shirt landed on his head. "You wanna help me to the bathroom, so I can change?" he asked looking to her and receiving a small laugh.  
  
"Its nothing I haven't seen before," she teased moving to his side.  
  
"Skye!" he grimaced, suppressing his laughter.  
  
~ TBC ~ 


	6. Stay

Beyond Recollection ~ A Sonny & Skye FanFiction  
  
Chapter Six ~ Stay  
  
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The click of the bathroom door echoed the soft smile on Sonny's face. This playful side of Skye was one he liked. It reminded him nothing of the woman he could remember - but something about the way her eyes grew softer with laughter felt somewhat familiar to him.  
  
Slowly and carefully he slipped into the clothes Skye had brought for him, using the toilette and sink for balance. The process was somewhat clumsy and painful as he tried to maneuver his leg into the pants. Sonny thought briefly of asking Skye for help, but quickly discarded the idea-the sudden blush on his cheeks harder to rid himself of.  
  
With the task of his pants defeated Sonny moved onto the easier garment, the black T-shirt lying on the small counter. Broken writs were often occurrences in his childhood due to his stepfather's drunken tendencies. Functioning with the heavy cast was customary.  
  
Shaking his head against the memories that were forming, he concentrated on the task at hand-getting his memory back. Without it he felt naked, almost weak. It was not how he wished to see himself but couldn't help it. So much had changed, starting with the woman on the other side of the door.  
  
Silently, Sonny moved to the door, pushing it open just enough to watch her as she fiddled with the other belongings she had packed for him. He was in a trance, focussed only on her.  
  
Without warning she began to sway slightly on her feet and then falling forward against the table beside his bed. Her hands grasped the edge of the wooden surface but could not hold her up. With a small scream she tumbled to the hard ground.  
  
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The sudden dizzy spell had come without warning. Her vision blurred, leaving her unable to determine shapes from shadows. The heaviness of her head only over powered by the weakness of her legs, she reached for anything. Anything to keep her body from colliding with the hospital floor.  
  
At first she thought she had succeeded. The hard surface of the table a pause in her downward journey, unable stop it all together. She didn't have the strength to hold on. Her arms suddenly the consistency of Jell-O, she fell. Hard.  
  
Her wrist hit the ground first, twisting slightly as the rest of her joined it. The scream had been uncontrollable, the sound of it echoing through her as her head collided with the ground.  
  
Skye couldn't move-didn't want to move. The cold tile beneath her, the pain in her wrist and the sudden nausea couldn't be conquered. She gave up before a fight could begin, lying with eyes shut, waiting for her discomfort to fade.  
  
"Skye!" Sonny yelled, the door crashing forcefully against the wall as he pushed foreword. His movement quick and awkward as he hurried to her side. Unable to bend down beside her, Sonny found himself lying next to her in the next moment. Unsure of how he had accomplished that task but not caring, he softy stroked the side of her face.  
  
"Skye? Can you hear me Skye?" His voice heavy with emotion, recognizably that of concern, he waited for a reply. He watched as she squeezed her eyes tightly, tension written across her brow, before a moan escape her lips.  
  
"Someone help us!" Sonny shouted to the shadows moving behind the door. "I need help!" The door opening quickly, Jason and Courtney emerging followed hastily by Tony. The three moved immediately to their side, confused and panicked.  
  
"What happened?" Tony asked taking her pulse.  
  
"She fell. I don't know why - I was in the bathroom." He spoke quickly not moving from Skye's side. The unspoken need to care and comfort her over powering any and all thoughts in his mind. It didn't matter what he couldn't remember because at this moment the fear for her safety was suffocating.  
  
"I-I'm all right," Skye spoke softly, fluttering her eyes open.  
  
"Skye, what happened?" Tony asked kneeled beside her.  
  
"I just became a little light headed-I lost my balance. I'm fine though," she stated moving her limbs slowly and wincing at the sharp pain that ran through her wrist.  
  
"What hurts?" Tony and Sonny asked in unison. Taken back by the intensity of Sonny's eyes, she was slow to answer.  
  
"My wrist broke my fall, other than that I just have a broken pride," she added standing slowly with Tony's help.  
  
"It could be sprained," Tony inquired, examining her arm. "We should go get this checked out, Skye."  
  
"No, its fine. Really."  
  
"Skye, just go with Tony. We'll stay here," Courtney offered as Jason helped Sonny up from the floor, slowly easing him to his bed.  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
"Skye-  
  
"I want to stay here," she added softly, letting her eyes fall to her arm. No one spoke-all understanding her hesitance to leave.  
  
"I'm going to send a nurse in to wrap it in an ace bandage, just incase it is sprained. I also want you to ice it later. That will help with any swelling that might occur."  
  
"Thank you, Tony."  
  
"Do you have any idea what might have caused this?"  
  
"I didn't get much sleep last night. I'll be-I am fine. I promise," Skye voiced, settling into the chair beside Sonny. Tony watched her movements, admitting to himself that she didn't look ill or injured.  
  
"Just remember I have witnesses," he spoke with a smile before turning his attention to Sonny. "So how are you feeling Sonny?"  
  
"I'm sick of this bed but other than that, I'm just sore."  
  
"Well I can help you with that, you're due for your pain medication. I assume Skye filled you in on your situation?"  
  
"Yes," he lied, ignoring Skye's smirk. No need to fill everyone in on his eavesdropping skills. "And the sooner I can get out of here the better."  
  
"I don't think that will be a problem. You are doing very well. I'll have the release forms written up and you can leave the earliest tomorrow morning, if you wish."  
  
"That's great!" Courtney declared showing off her smile.  
  
'Yeah, it is,' Sonny and Skye both thought.  
  
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It was late. The lights in his room were off, only the soft glow of the stars lighting the room. Groggily he let his eyes open, still somewhat heavy with sleep, confused as to what had woken him. The ticking clock on the far wall reading early morning.  
  
"I didn't mean to wake you," her soft voice echoed to his left.  
  
"Skye?" he questioned, turning to the figure next to his bed. She sat there with her legs pressed to her chest, her head resting against her crossed arms. Looking to her face he noticed she too looked as though she had just woken. "Have you been here all night?"  
  
"I guess I fell asleep," she admitted somewhat embarrassed, trailing a hand threw her amber locks. "I should leave. You need your rest."  
  
"You don't have to leave," Sonny spoke softly, eyes glowing with longing. She smiled at his words, the action causing a wave of warmth through him.  
  
"No, I should. Besides, this chair will do nothing for my back." She grimaced as she lowered her legs to the floor, now sitting properly.  
  
"Stay."  
  
"Wha-  
  
"Stay with me," he asked moving to the side, creating a space for her.  
  
She was dreaming but at that moment she didn't care. Only wishing for it to never end. She moved towards the man she'd, lately, only been allowed to see in her dreams.  
  
Skye held her breath as she lowered herself onto the soft covers, thankful it was his opposite arm and leg that were injured. Slowly she edged closer to him, her eyes focussed on the body she's been longing to hold. His body warm against her chilled form and she pressed into it, letting her eyes travel to his face.  
  
His eyes, still sleep ridden, were focussed on her. Meeting as her own moved across his features, unintentionally lingering on his lips and locking into his stare. Her hand, all the while, lingered above him. Still unsure if touch would cause this dream to fade.  
  
Lowering her eyes from his own, she hesitantly let her hand fall to his chest. Motivated by the contented sigh that escaped his lips, she became bolder and let her arm wrap around his middle. Skye could no longer hide her excitement and smiled softly at him before letting her head fall against his shoulder. Slowly his own confidence grew and she became aware of the arm tracing patterns down her back before settling on her hip.  
  
"Thank you," she whispered into his shirt, nuzzling into him even more before letting herself fall asleep.  
  
~ TBC ~ 


	7. To Belong

Beyond Recollection ~ A Sonny & Skye FanFiction  
  
Chapter Seven ~ To Belong  
  
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She had thanked him.  
  
Why-he didn't know. He was the one that should be thanking her. Waking to a world he did not know or understand she has been the only consistent these days. For the past few days she had not left his side, with one exception. He didn't know the Skye that was now sleeping beside him, but he didn't want to let her go.  
  
The events that had occurred over the last year and a half came to him as he slept. Images and words mixed together and blurred in his dreams. Places and emotions lost when he awakes. Stolen from his memory just like so many other things from his past.  
  
A mother, Lily, his unborn children.  
  
All of them have been stolen before their time was finished, stolen from him.  
  
Looking down at the woman asleep beside him a growing pain spreads around his heart. Blinded by the image of a man he no longer can be, she stays by him. Faithful to what they had once shared. Devoted to the Sonny she has shared her life with. Loyal to the love she feels for him, the love he witnesses every time he looks into her eyes.  
  
She loves him. She is honest, faithful, devoted and loyal. Isn't that everything he had always hoped for? Why has it come now with such a high price? Why has this punishment been placed on his shoulders?  
  
Engulfed by the sadness of his thoughts he pulls her body closer, thinking of the love he wished he felt for her.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked turning her heavy eyes to his. The pull they created draining Sonny of his breath.  
  
"How-why do you think something is wrong?" he asked cherishing the warmth her breath created against his chest.  
  
"I just know. It's hard to explain I guess," she replied taking his hand and intertwining it with her own. "What's wrong, Sonny?"  
  
"I've caused you a lot of pain, haven't I?" he asked, eyes burning with guilt and remorse.  
  
"Do I look like I'm in pain, Sonny?" she spoke with gentle a smile. "You haven't caused me any pain, you never could."  
  
"What about all the things I've said to you in the past? What about this whole situation?"  
  
"Sonny, please stop being so hard on yourself. The way you do this to yourself is what is painful for me. It's so hard to look into your eyes and see the war waging inside of you. Don't be worried about me. You could never hurt me."  
  
"How can you be so faithful to a man like me?" His eyes bore into her own as a warm tear trailed his cheek.  
  
"Because I love you," she spoke softly. "I know you can't remember but maybe knowing that will help you. Maybe it will help you find your way back to me."  
  
The knot in the pit of his stomach lurched at her confession. She spoke her feelings with a strength that weakened his heart. She loved him. He only wished he could give her something in return.  
  
"Skye," he paused unsure of how so ask.  
  
"Hmm," she seemed to purr giving a small squeeze to their enjoined hands.  
  
"Do you want to kiss me?" His eyes lowered as she took in his question. The wait for her reply seeming like eternity.  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh-," his voice choking with defeat. He looked away from her quickly, contemplating moving away from her altogether. She didn't want him, her words actions had just been those of pity.  
  
"I want 'you' to kiss me," her calm voice interrupting his thoughts. He looked at her then, his eyes meeting the soft smile that was slowly drawing him towards her lips. He moved deliberately slow, giving Skye the chance to change her mind and pull back but also giving him the time to comprehend reality.  
  
His hand on her lower back rubbing gently - reality  
  
Her body leaning into his - reality  
  
And the lips now pressed against his own - reality  
  
It was all real and it was heaven.  
  
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Skye was in pure bliss with Sonny's lips against her own. She'd been longing for this for what seemed like an eternity. Never would she have imagined that he would be kissing her this soon. She had been expecting a long and painful reformation of their relationship.  
  
Soft moans of pleasure escaped from deep within her throat, building Sonny's courage to be more confident with his actions. Slowly he went from kissing her gently to running his tongue across her bottom lip, asking permission. Skye didn't hesitate to open her mouth to the warmth of his tongue and the sensation it created dancing with her own.  
  
Convinced that she still wasn't close enough, Sonny grasped onto her thigh pulling her up against his own body. His hands ran trails across her thighs and back and she moaned her delight. His mouth now began to explore her neck as she moved to straddle his uninjured leg. Her neck was her weakness and slowly she began to lightly thrust her hips, causing a groan from Sonny.  
  
Breathless he pulled his lips from her, cradling her face in his palms. They lay still for some moments, just staring into the others eyes before he began placing a few soft kisses on her mouth. Not wanting to move ahead to quickly he pulled her head against his chest, wrapping his arms around her and she did likewise.  
  
"That's a pretty sharp necklace you got on," he joked after a few minutes of silence, pretending to be injured. "It stabbed me."  
  
"You big baby," Skye teased averting her eyes from his own. Not wanting him to see the ring yet, she slowly began to sit up, trying to put distance between them.  
  
"Where are you going?" Sonny asked sounding almost worried.  
  
"Nowhere," she assured with a smile, placing a quick kiss to his mouth. "You just reminded me of something I wanted to give you?" she finished rising from the bed. Sonny watched, with a smile, as she padded barefoot across the floor to the small bag she had brought the day before. Retrieving something from its pockets she turned towards him with her hands behind her back.  
  
"What have you got there?" Sonny asked with a grin, dimples full blown. "A present?"  
  
She laughed at his childish expression. "Yes," she spoke as she came to kneel beside him on the bed. "Open your hand and close your eyes," she commanded with a glow in her eyes.  
  
Sonny immediately obeyed and after a moment he felt her place, what he thought was a chain, into his hand. She closed his fingers around it, letting him feel the cool metal and the hard edges of a charm or pendant. Something was familiar-very familiar about what he held.  
  
"Open your eyes, Sonny."  
  
A choked sob filled the room as he looked to the object he held. Skye watched as Sonny stared motionless at the cross she that had placed in his hand. She felt almost blessed to witness his heartfelt reaction twice in one lifetime. Like the first time, tears began to form and then fall down his face.  
  
"H-how?" was all Sonny could manage as he looked up to her, tears continuing to fall.  
  
"You described it perfectly in your stories of your mother," she began as she moved closer to him. "I just started my search with that. I went to a local jeweler and had him sketch it out, using your description exactly. Finding the store took the most amount of time but after that," she trailed off with a small shrug.  
  
Leaning forward she brushed away Sonny's remaining tears and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. She then lifted his hand and slowly took the necklace from it, unclasping it and placing it around his neck letting it fall against his chest.  
  
"It belongs here," she spoke softly running her fingers over the cross. "With you." Before she backed away this time he stopped her. Bringing his hands to rest on her face he kissed her slowly.  
  
"So do you," he spoke voice thick with emotion. "You belong here, with me." **  
  
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~ TBC ~  
  
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** A/N ~ yeah sorry for the wait - I have exams this week and then I start my summer job. Oh goody! But I already got some ideas for the next chapter- so hopefully it won't be that long until I update. Get ready from some Jasper Jacks & to find out what happened to AJ! 


	8. What’s To Come

Beyond Recollection ~ A Sonny & Skye FanFiction  
  
Chapter Eight ~ What's To Come  
  
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The bathroom door shut quietly behind her as she slowly made her way into the living room, pausing in front of the sleeping man. His form was sprawled across the larger of the two couches in the darkened room. The blanket she had covered him with only minutes ago was now tangled around his feet and middle.  
  
Her bare feet made no sound as she padded softly to his side, kneeling next to him. A small smile played at her lips as she took in his bare chest and ruffled black hair. The shirt he had worn earlier in the evening was now draped across her shoulders, her own clothes covered the floor in a path from the front door, evidence of their lovemaking.  
  
Softly, to not wake him, she brushed her fingers through his curls and placed a kiss to his forehead. Restless, she made her way to the door, cleaning up the forgotten clothes. The clock sitting above the mantle struck five.  
  
'I should take it,' she thought to herself walking towards the windows beside the dinning table. She stood in silence, the only sound coming from his heavy breaths and slight snores. Turning her attention to the view behind the glass she watched the traces of night disappear. Stars and shadows melting away with the soft hues coloring the early morning sky, beginning the new day. A day that could change the rest of her life and theirs. All depending on the small object sitting on the bathroom counter, yet to be used.  
  
"Skye," he spoke still trapped in sleep. She turned away from the window at the sound of his voice. Speaking while he slept was a reoccurring development since they had returned from the hospital over two weeks ago. Though his memories have yet to return, Sonny's dreams have been filled with his unknown past.  
  
Almost each night she has been awaken by his moans or tossing body. She knew things came to him in his dreams. The phrases and thoughts spoken by him as he lay beside her cause her own memory to flood with images. Feeling slightly guilty, she admits to herself that she looks foreword to his dreams. The words he is able to speak so freely there have yet to be spoken out loud. One word in particular, beginning with L and ending with E.  
  
Skye has no doubt that they have progressed greatly. Since that last day in the hospital he had been able to express the passion and desire that had been present before the accident. During the past weeks that aspect of their relationship has left no question that he is attracted to her.  
  
But that was all - an attraction. Not love but lust. He cared for her, she knew that but she still dreaded that it would never return to the way it had been. The memories that returned in his sleep, the ones that gave her hope, where always lost when he awoke.  
  
His failure to remember was taking a toll on what relationship they had begun creating that morning in the hospital. She could feel his frustrations and believed it was somehow pushing them apart.  
  
Holding her breath, willing the tears not the fall she looked to the empty streets of Port Charles, imaging better days.  
  
'Stop doing this to your self Skye,' she scolded her tormenting thoughts. Looking to the clock she let out a sigh of distress, realizing not even two minutes had passed.  
  
"I can't do this," she whispered to herself. "I'm not ready for the answer."  
  
So with quick steps she entered the bathroom grabbing the small object with one fast swipe of the hand. She couldn't use it, instead throwing it back into its box and hiding it behind a box of tissues under the sink.  
  
"I'll take it later," she promised herself. "When I'm ready."  
  
**  
  
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**  
  
"Skye!" Sonny called from the bottom of the stairs. "Are you almost ready? We're going to be late."  
  
"One more minute!" She called from the bedroom, eliciting a moan from him as he pulled at the uncomfortable costume he wore.  
  
Tonight being the night before Halloween, he had been roped into attending the Quartermaine's party at the Grille. When he had been informed of the evening that he was to attend he had quickly declined. Asking why she would even want to attend. Her reply had surprised him as she explained that with the exception of Edward, the rest of the family has been good to her over the past year and half. Not only supporting her but them as well. Even Jason had begun to show up at the mansion every now and then.  
  
So now he stood, dressed as the phantom of the opera mask and all, waiting for Skye. A grin appeared on his face as several images of her costume ran through his thoughts. He had no idea what costume she was attending in but the possibilities his mind was creating were not helping his already constricted pants. He was just happy he no longer wore the cast that had been present two days ago.  
  
"Are you two almost ready?" Courtney asked poking her head in for the second time in ten minutes.  
  
"Almost!" Skye's voice echoed down from the stairs causing brother and sister to laugh softly.  
  
"Why don't you two go ahead without us," he spoke to his sister.  
  
"Are you sure? We could wait." She suggested as she played with the wings she wore on her back. Along with the white gown and halo she also wore, she created the perfect image of an angel.  
  
"Nah, don't wait. I don't know how much longer she is going to be. She's been saying 'one more minute' for the last fifteen.  
  
"Ok," she laughed, with a small wave and a rustle of feathers she left.  
  
"It has not been fifteen minutes," Skye teased from the top of the stairs a moment later. Sonny turned waiting for her to come into his view.  
  
"You're right. It's probably been longer," he grinned under the white mask he wore.  
  
"What can I say. I have to work hard to look this good," she smiled as she stepped onto the landing. Spinning around she gave him a full view of her costume. Dressed as Cleopatra, the strapless gold gown she wore was form fitting and ravishing, falling to her sandal-clad feet. Arms and neck decorated with lavish gold bands and jewels, she smiled brightly at him.  
  
"So? What do you think? I had to lose the crown. That thing weighed a tun," she spoke as she made her way down the stars, her heavily made up eyes looking at him with a smile. "You look very handsome. You should ware a mask more often," she teased with a giggle as she came to stand before him.  
  
"G-d Skye," he spoke at last. "You look amazing."  
  
"Thank you," she said with a slight blush looking at his glazed eyes. Leaning foreword he caught her lips in a gentle kiss before taking her hand.  
  
"Now I believe we have a party to attend."  
  
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Unnoticed, Skye slipped out onto the Grille patio. The night was going better than she had hoped for. Giving their current situation even Edward was behaving himself. She actually thought Sonny was having a good time. Though he never stranded too far from herself, Courtney or Jason, he shared friendly conversations with Monica, Alan, Emily and Zander.  
  
Looking back into the Grille she watched as he danced with Courtney, the smile he wore matching her own. Assured that he was not uncomfortable she walked away from the door, enjoying the chill the night breeze caused. Sitting down on one of the many benches decorated with pumpkins glowing with the soft candle light from their centers, she gazed up at the night sky. The moon was full and the stars were especially bright. With the music and laughter echoing from inside Skye was too distracted to notice the figure that slowly approached her.  
  
"I can't believe you had the nerve to bring him here tonight," his deep Australian voice draining the smile from her face.  
  
"I can't believe you had the nerve to come here yourself," she replied not looking at him.  
  
"Lila invited me."  
  
"She also invited the family attorney. What's your point?"  
  
"My point is that you are making the biggest mistake of your life Skye," he stated moving in front of her and blocking her escape. "Look at me."  
  
"There, I'm looking," she replied as she turned her eyes to his. "What now? Do you want to yell at me? Fight? Maybe finish the conversation we started almost a year ago?"  
  
"I don't want to fight with you Skye."  
  
"Then leave because that's all we do."  
  
"Skye, I'm trying to help you! I'm trying to protect you!" He protested.  
  
"I don't need protection Jax!"  
  
"Corinthos is bad news. You used to understand that. What happened?" he asked softer, anger still evident in his eyes.  
  
"He helped me. He was there for me when I had no one."  
  
"You should have called me Skye. I could have helped you through it."  
  
"And how was I supposed to contact you. You were the reason I started drinking and you were the reason I was out there that night!"  
  
"That's not true -  
  
"Oh, yes it is. You broke my heart and then you just left town. You ignored my calls, blowing me off so you could go do G-d know what - or should I say who?"  
  
"I was hurting from Brenda."  
  
"And I was dying because of you."  
  
"Skye, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you that night. Once I heard what happened I tried to help you but you pushed me away and let HIM take care of you!"  
  
"I didn't want to be a part of your white night syndrome. You are only there for me when I'm weak, never when I'm strong. Why is that? Are you so threatened by it? Why?" she was nearly shouting.  
  
"I care about you Skye."  
  
"Then where were you when I needed you - before I broke! Before that night!"  
  
"Skye -  
  
"No! Just stop Jax! I love him and you can't change that."  
  
"He can't love. Not a man like Sonny Corinthos."  
  
"But a man like you can? A womanizing, corporate radar, who compairs every woman to the past love of his life?"  
  
"I'm not with Brenda am I? I'm here. With you."  
  
"But I don't want you here Jax. I don't love you and you don't love me. You are only doing this because I'm with Sonny. If he was anyone else you wouldn't have come back and we wouldn't be having this discussion!"  
  
"No, we wouldn't because Corinthos isn't just anyone!"  
  
"Jax, just stop. You can't just tell me who I can love!"  
  
"What about your family? Haven't they had anything to say?"  
  
"Sonny took care of me, Jax. He pulled me out of my shell when no one could - he stopped my nightmares. How do you think my family feels about him?" she questioned standing in front of him now. "And if you have any doubts then look inside. Do you hear shouts? Yelling? Fighting?"  
  
"What about your brother?"  
  
"Jason loves Sonny -  
  
"AJ," Jax cut in. "What about him? Look what this has done to him?"  
  
"This hasn't done anything thing to him."  
  
"Have you even been to visit him once?"  
  
"No," she answered softly turning away but finding herself being forced to look at Jax by his hold on her shoulders.  
  
"Get off me!" She shouted.  
  
"Do you even care what your relationship with Sonny has done to him?"  
  
"It hasn't done anything! You can't blame any one for AJ actions except for him self! He was the one that drank! He was the one that got into a car! He was the one who killed a man!"  
  
"He drank after a fight with YOU about HIM!"  
  
"That is not far! You cannot blame Sonny or me for his actions! I did not put the bottle to his lips or the keys in his hand."  
  
"No but you practically did. You choose Sonny over your brother and look where he is now. In a cell, in jail, facing a hearing."  
  
"Let go of me." She growled.  
  
"He will just hurt you in the end Skye!"  
  
"Like you did?"  
  
"He will never stop loving Brenda and you'll always have to worry about the day that she comes back for him because you and he will be over!"  
  
"Get the hell away from her!" Zander snapped pushing Jax's hands away from their hold on Skye.  
  
"You ok?" he asked Skye softly stepping between her and Jax. Skye nodded softly in reply. "What hell are doing here man? Just leave -  
  
"Zander, this doesn't involve you!"  
  
"She's Emily's sister and my friend, this certainly involves me."  
  
"Zander its ok," Skye began before she started to sway slightly, another dizzy spell quickly approaching.  
  
"Skye? Are you alright?" Zander asked.  
  
"I just need to sit -  
  
"Skye!" Zander called out just before he caught her falling form in his arms.  
  
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Sonny laughed at Jason's expression as Courtney pulled him out to the small, but crowed, dance floor. The night had been nothing like he'd expected. When they arrived, arms linked, they had been welcomed with smiles and embraces. It slightly scared him, knowing of the deep resentment he felt for the Quartermaine's and yet a year in half later he is welcomed into their family. He'd never felt so at ease since his days spent with Carly, Jason, and Courtney. They had been a family, the three of them but now he had so much more.  
  
'And its all because of one woman,' he thought as his eyes travailed across the from, in search of her. Unable to spot her he walked through the crowd towards the patio door draped with orange and black decorations.  
  
"Sonny," Emily's voice appeared at his side.  
  
"Hi Emily," he spoke with a smile turning away from the door to face the young woman. "Taking a break?" he teased her.  
  
"Well my dance partner disserted me," she smiled back.  
  
"Mine too. I was just about to look outside -  
  
"Skye!" Zander's frantic voice reached the pair as they stood just next to the door. Immediately Sonny was pushing through the curtain of streamers and lights, searching for Zander.  
  
"Skye? Zander?" Sonny and Emily called out as they ran past the empty tables usually filled with the Grille's guest, not occupied with pumpkins and glowing candles.  
  
"Sonny! Over here," Zander called from nearby. Rounding the small corner they came insight. Jax stood motionless beside Zander, whose arms where supporting Skye.  
  
"Skye?" Sonny asked with concern as he pulled her into his arms. Unresponsive, the only sign of life coming from her soft breaths and rising chest. Concerned and worried, Sonny gently pulled her completely in his arms and swiftly made his way back to the party.  
  
"Alan! Monica!" he called stepping inside and then being ushered into a seat with Skye still in his arms since he was unwilling to let her go.  
  
"What happened?" Monica asked the first to make it through the small crowd surrounding him.  
  
"She was fighting with Jax," Zander replied glaring at Jax. "He was upsetting her and wouldn't let her leave."  
  
"What the hell did you do?" Jason growled unable to step forward to confront the man due to Courtney's hand on his elbow.  
  
"I didn't do anything. This has nothing to do with me - but everything to do with him." he accused gesturing towards Sonny.  
  
Ignoring the argument that was occurring around him, Sonny focussed solely on Skye and Monica's examination. "What's wrong?" he asked softly, eyes close to tearing.  
  
"She's only fainted," Monica quickly assured. "It's probably due to stress - lack of sleep - anything could have caused it." Reaching into the bag Alan had just retrieved she pulled a small object out from it, breaking in under Skye's nose and pulling her from unconsciousness.  
  
"Wha - what happened?" she questioned distantly, still blinking away the last remnants of blackness.  
  
"You fainted," Alan spoke from her side. "I think we should get you to General Hospital, just to be sure everything is all right." At the word Hospital Skye started fidgeting immediately, not wanting to have any test run on her - yet.  
  
"No. No hospital," she looked up to Sonny. "Please, I'm fine. I'm just tired and I haven't been feeling well lately."  
  
"There is a bug going around," Emily added softly.  
  
"I'm sure it's nothing, but just to be sure -  
  
"Please, I just want to go home," Skye pleaded again looking to Sonny for help.  
  
"Skye -  
  
"I'm taking her home," Sonny finally voiced.  
  
"I really don't think that is a good idea," Monica stated.  
  
"It's only upsetting her more. We'll stop by GH in the morning," Sonny promised. "But tonight we're going home."  
  
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As gently as possible she unattached her body from his arms. She held her breath, watching for any signs of waking from her companion. With a slight snore and mumble he snuggled into the pillow she had put in her place. Quietly she retrieved the silk robe hanging against the chair beside the bed and placed it around her naked form, tying it loosely. Giving one last look to the man asleep on the bed she stood, moving through the darkened room.  
  
Letting out a small sigh of relief she exited the bedroom and slowly tiptoed down the hall to the top of the stairs. Pulse loudly throbbing in her veins she made her way down the stairs, the floor cold to her bare toes as she looked back over her shoulder.  
  
The coast was clear, he had not awakened.  
  
Feet moving again, she travailed through the darkened penthouse, task clear in her mind as she neared her destination. The tiles of the bathroom floor sent a quick wave of chills through her legs and arms, their coldness completely removing any last traces of sleep. With a shaky hand she opened the small cabinets she had kneeled in front of the day before. Reaching her hand behind the tissues and other object that littered the small space, her fingers grasped onto the small box she was searching for. Setting in on the marbled counter she stared at it, its words like neon signs in her conscious.  
  
HOME PREGNANCY TEST  
  
~ TBC ~  
  
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	9. Bleeding Hearts

Beyond Recollection - _A Sonny & Skye FanFiction_

Chapter Nine - _Bleeding Hearts_

* * *

Her fingers drummed constantly against the surface of the table, the sound of it echoing softly through the darkened kitchen. She sits, patiently waiting for the small cooking timer to signal the end of her wait.

One more minute she repeats to herself as the ticking of the timer makes its final journey round the small face of the clock. The glass of water sitting in front of her is untouched, the dryness of her throat incurable until she knows the results of the pregnancy test that sits in the next room.

Letting out a breath of frustration she pushes back the lose strands of auburn and glances at the timer, waiting for the longest minute of her life to end.

She fidgets now, her fingers playing with the silk tie of her robe as she forces herself to look away from the torturous clock sitting in front of her. Her eyes land on the jack-o-lantern perched on the island in the center of the room. Its image forcing Jax's words to burn in her subconscious. Though spoken hours ago, the wound they caused now lay beside the other scars she carries.

"_He can't love. Not a man like Sonny Corinthos."_

She used to not believe that. Sonny did love and once he even loved her. But now, now it was different. She knew he was trying, the frustration visible in his eyes when he looked at her is evidence enough. But the fact remains that he doesn't love her. The man that once loved her is hidden somewhere inside the man she sees each day and sleeps beside each night.

None of his memories have returned and aside from the day in the hospital there haven't been any close encounters returning.

Her scar had been the trigger that day. She knows he has seen all of them now but he has yet to push her to talk of them. Though, when he thinks she is a sleep she feels him trace them, the warmth of his fingers protecting her from the coldness of the memory. Maybe it was time to talk to him about them. About that night as well. Maybe it would trigger something again and then the love she knew could return.

With the sound of the timer all former thoughts were forgotten as she stepped away from the kitchen and walked towards the bathroom, where their fait awaited them.

* * *

He thrashes the sheets violently from his body. Sweat forming on his brow as his fingers clutch the mattress. Unaware of the emptiness of the bed beside him, Sonny dreams.

_The air is cold, snow crunches beneath his feet as he approaches the fallen man. There is no sympathy or mercy in his eyes as the man before him wipes away the stream of blood from his mouth._

"_What are you going to do Sonny? You can't kill me, you never could."_

"_That's where you're wrong Ric," he growls sending a swift kick to his stomach. Ric rolls twice from the impact before he begins to laugh._

"_Did she tell you how much she enjoyed it?" he asked, his sinister expression growing with Sonny's anger._

_"You're a fucking bastard!"_

_"Has she given you all the dirty details? We did it right here you know," he taunts gesturing to the park around him. "Her screams of ecstasy echoed through these trees!"_

_"Shut the hell up!" Sonny shouts pulling his gun from his belt, pointing it towards his brother._

"_I dare you to pull the trigger, then you can run back to the little whore," his words echoing through Sonny as he staggered to his knees. "But you can't can you. You can't kill your own brother."_

"_Jason is my brother, the only thing I share with you is blood and right now yours is about to cover this snow!" _

"_You're a fool and she's a slut! I hope you enjoy your life together," his laughter continued._

_Then with the pull of the trigger, the snow is red as his body slumped to the ground. _

Sonny's eyes open in shock from the memory and he staggers out of bed. Collapsed on the floor he fights for his breath to return as tears burn his face and choke his throat.

Perched now on his knees he punches his fist into the mattress, anger flooding through him. "I killed my brother," he whimpers burying his head into the sheets of the bed.

The guilt is like a noose around his neck, pulling tighter with each choked sob. He can't believe what he has done. He killed a man, his brother, for having an affair with his wife. With one shot he took the man Carly loved and the father of their child.

"I'm a monster," he spoke into the sheets as the sound of Skye's foot steps neared. Quickly he pushed himself to his feet and staggered into the bathroom, locking the door behind him just as she entered the bedroom.

Turning the knob of the shower of full heat he entered in a daze, forgetting to remove his clothes as the steam and hot water helped to mask his tears and guilt.

Perched in the center of the bed she anticipated his return. Her fingers busily played with the sheet as she forced her eagerness down. The happiness evident on her expression was unbearable as she impatiently waited to share the good news with him. Minutes turned to hours and her happiness faded as she as she knocked on the door for the fifth time and received a gruff reply of, "Leave me alone."

With a whispered "I love you" she climbed into the bed they shared and as she pulled the cold sheets around her she willed her tears to stay dormant as she lay in the darkness of the early morning.

TBC

(A/N) wahoo! I'm back...and more depressed than ever by the looks of that chapter huh...lol...sorry about that...just keep in mind I like happy endings! Hope every one had a Happy Turkey Day!


	10. Silent Prayers

Beyond Recollection ~ A Sonny & Skye FanFiction  
  
Chapter Ten ~ Silent Prayers  
  
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Sinking to the cold tiles of the hospital's rest room, she fought against the exhaustion prying into her being. With her tears dried to her face and sweater, Skye began focussing on her defense towards her sudden nausea. Lightheaded and drowsy, she leaded back against the tiled wall, taking deep breath after breath.  
  
'Just breath, Skye,' she repeated in her thoughts. 'It'll pass, just keep breathing.'  
  
"Excuse me Miss!" an irritated voice sounded from the other side of the restroom door. "Are you almost done? You have been in there for twenty minuets! There are people waiting and ---,"  
  
"I'm almost finished," she called back weakly, ignoring the woman's further complaints. After a moment, assured that her nausea had passed, she slowly pulled herself to her knees. Balancing her weight on the sink as she stood fully, she winced at the sight of herself in the mirror.  
  
"I'm a wreak," she spoke aloud before turning the faucet on and splashing her face with water, washing away the streaks of mascara her tears had caused. It was hard to believe she even had any tears left in her.  
  
Sonny was gone.  
  
The cruel tone he had spoken with this morning along with the absence she had woken to only added further to her haunting thoughts. Thoughts telling her that the man she loved was gone and in his place a stranger. He was pulling away from her and the distance between them was breaking her.  
  
'What if he doesn't want this baby?'  
  
'What if he can't love it?'  
  
'What if he'll never love us?'  
  
Fresh tears stung the back of her eyelids as she tried to push her thoughts away. With a glance at the watch resting on her wrist, Skye realized she was already ten minuets late for her meeting with Dr. Meadows. Gathering her purse and coat she exited the restroom, ignoring the impatient woman standing beside the door.  
  
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Looking at the darkness of the water below him, Sonny wondered if the freezing temperature would be enough to take away his guilt. The warn wood of the pier creaked as he shifted his weight back and forth, rocking closer to the edge.  
  
"But you can't can you. You can't kill your own brother."  
  
But he did. He killed his brother, his own mother's son --- and for what? For revenge? Hate? Jealousy?  
  
"Has she given you all the dirty details? We did it right here you know," he taunts gesturing to the park around him. "Her screams of ecstasy echoed through these trees!"  
  
Jealousy. He killed him for taking his wife from him, for giving her the child he couldn't. Maybe for being the man Carly needed-wanted. How many lives had he ruined? How many people must he destroy before he finally destroys himself?  
  
Wouldn't everyone be better off he took this final step off the pier?  
  
Gazing into the black water he stared at his own reflection, wondering whose face it was the reflected back. It wasn't his own, he no longer knew himself. Memories and people were missing-over a year of his life was gone and he wasn't sure he wanted it back.  
  
It has been almost three weeks since he woke and what has he learned-what has he remembered? He killed his brother, lost his wife and family and somehow ended with a woman he once thought of as an enemy. How was it all possible?  
  
At this moment the cold waters below him were more inviting than the unnatural life around him. Stepping forward he looked one last time into the lifeless features of his reflection. He watched a single tear fall from its residence, creating tiny ripples on the black surface before he leaned foreword.  
  
"Sonny," her voice reached his conscious just as her hand on his arm stopped him from his fall. He turned, tears cascading down his face, he faces the woman he could remember loving. The woman he had been missing since the day he woke.  
  
"Carly," her name was a whispered prayer from his lips as he fell into her familiar arms, holding on for dear life.  
  
**  
  
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"Three weeks?" Skye repeated what Dr. Meadows had just resited.  
  
"Yes Skye, you're three weeks pregnant," she spoke with a soft smile. Skye was silent for a moment, relishing in the joy she was now overwhelmed with. Her child had been conceived before Sonny's accident. This is what she had been hoping for, to be able have a child born from the love its parents had shared. With her silent prayer answered she looked to Dr. Meadows with a true smile.  
  
"Now I understand you and your family have been through a great deal this past month," with a soft and almost sad nod from Skye Dr. Meadows continued. "Skye, with your medical history its imperative that you keep your stress level as low as possible. Your body has healed since the accident you suffered while living in Pine Valley, but you are still in the high risk category."  
  
"What are you saying? Can I have this child?" Skye asked fearfully.  
  
"As of now I say yes, but you must take care of yourself. I don't know how well your body will take to this pregnancy. It might even come down to complete bed rest in your last trimester, but I believe that your child will make it. Do you understand?"  
  
Skye mutely nodded, listening silently to the warnings Dr. Meadow continued to give. After the necessary prescriptions were made they scheduled her next appointment before parting.  
  
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Accompanied by her thoughts she walked the streets of Port Charles. The autumn air a blanket around her as the orange and red leaves fell to her feet. She wondered how and if she should even tell Sonny. How would he take this? Would it only make things harder for him, considering they made this child during a time he has no recollection of.  
  
Thinking it best if she waited to tell him, she began to notice where her walk had brought her. As she traveled down the remaining steps to the docks she froze at the sight ahead of her.  
  
Sonny-and in his arms the end she had feared most since he had woken, Carly.  
  
~ TBC ~  
  
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	11. Feelings of Betrayal

Beyond Recollection ~ A Sonny & Skye FanFiction  
  
Chapter Eleven ~ Feelings of Betrayal  
  
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"Sonny? Sonny what's wrong?" Carly asked softly as she cradled his head on her shoulders, his tears dampening her coat.  
  
"I can't do it any more Carly," he moaned burying his face into the crook of her neck, breathing in her familiar scent.  
  
"Can't do what Sonny? What's wrong?" she pleaded pulling his face towards her own.  
  
"I can't do it anymore," he whispered as their eyes met. "I can't be who they tell me to be. I can't be the person they want me to be."  
  
"No ones asking you to Sonny," she spoke pulling him into her arms. As they stood hugging, she let her hands roam the familiar trails of his back, smoothing and comforting his shaking form. It felt so good to have him in her arms again, she thought to herself, letting her fingers wander across his neck and through the dark curls at its base.  
  
"Carly," he whimpered into her ear.  
  
As she moved to place a kiss to his forehead, her eyes met the ones of the woman standing only feet away. Seeing her painful expression Carly smiled and turned her attention back to the man in her arms. She kissed him softly, letting her lips linger on his forehead longer then necessary.  
  
"Sonny, what have they done to you?" she questioned softly moving her eyes away from the red head and to the man before her. "What has she done to you?"  
  
"I can't do it Carly," he repeated as he framed her face with his quivering hands. "I can't pretend I don't love you. I can't forget our love, is that wrong?"  
  
"Of course it's not Sonny," Carly spoke lovingly as she covered his hands with her own. "A love like we shared is not meant to be forgotten."  
  
"G-d! I've missed you so much Carly," he confessed before pulling her lips to his own.  
  
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** "Sonny," his name a whimper from her lips as she staggered backwards until her back collided with the wall behind her. She leaned her weakened frame against its cold surface for support as she watched them embrace. Tears painfully burned her eyes and face as her heart pounded against her chest, breaking as she watched him pull Carly into a deep kiss.  
  
She frantically covered her mouth, her trembling hands suppressing the cry that escaped her lips. Breathing was difficult as sobs wrenched through her throat. She continued to stare at the scene before her, unable to tear her eyes away.  
  
She watched now as Carly moved her hands down Sonny's chest, disappearing inside his jacket. The moan of pleasure that emitted from his lips reached Skye's ears a moment latter causing her head fall and her tears to now stain the ground as she desperately tried to hide her scream of anguish. Biting down on the flesh of her hand, she was oblivious to the taste of her own blood as her teeth broke her skin, only aware of the sounds emitted by Sonny.  
  
Her chest constricted against her already wounded heart as she held in her breath, refusing to breathe. At that moment she longed for death-anything that could free her from the moment she was trapped in. Finally she took a breath, letting her hand fall away from her mouth as the air past through her trembling lips. Wiping the blood from her hand against the fabric of her skirt she slowly raised her eyes to the pair before her, meeting Carly's stare as Sonny attacked her neck with his mouth.  
  
She couldn't brake away from her gaze and watched as Carly's hands pulled Sonny closer. Her head moved to the side, exposing more of her neck to Sonny. Still she would not tare her eyes from Skye's and with one last grin in her direction, she pulled Sonny's head towards her lips. With one hand pulling his head towards her mouth, she used the other to place Sonny's hand closer to her breast. It was invitation that he complied to, moving his-  
  
Her mind screamed as she tore her eyes away and forced her legs to climb the stairs away from the docks. She couldn't stay there and watch him find the comfort and love she had been so desperate to give him. Watching was slowly killing her and the child inside her.  
  
**  
  
*****  
  
***********  
  
*****  
  
**  
  
Hours later, she slowly raised her head and looked through the darkness to the room surrounding her. Their bedroom, where their love had created the child inside her, seemed so cruel now as it forced memories past her closed eyes. Perched on their bed, the sheets she lay on began to burn her skin with pictures of their lovemaking and she frantically pushed herself off the bed, falling to the ground beside it with a sudden cry.  
  
Tears of anger surfaced again as she stared down at the bed they had shared for so long. Rage and pain clouded her vision as she began to assault the bed, pulling the sheets and pillows from their neat and orderly positions and throwing them to the ground. Then with one strong pull she broke the chain hanging from her neck, throwing it to the ground beside his pillow.  
  
Mumbling painful words of hate, she swiftly moved around the room, collecting her things and roughly pushing them into her suitcase. With tears blinding and blood pounding in her ears, Skye didn't hear the knocking on the front door, nor the footsteps on the stairs.  
  
"Skye?"  
  
"What?" she asked roughly as she moved from the bathroom, her arms over loaded with makeup and curling irons.  
  
"What are you doing?" the blonde behind him asked.  
  
"What does it look like Courtney?" She questioned as she emptied the contents of her arms onto the mattress and began to pack them into a smaller bag.  
  
"You're leaving?" Jason asked moving toward his sister.  
  
"I want to be gone by the time he gets home," Skye stated as her hands roughly packed her things into her bag. Anger pumping through her veins, she didn't even slow her hands as the small glass figurine Alan had given her last Christmas broke in her hands.  
  
"Skye!" Courtney yelled as Skye continued packing, disregarding her bleeding palm.  
  
"Skye stop!" Jason pleaded as he pulled her smaller hands into his own. "Skye, you're bleeding," he spoke softer.  
  
"I don't care. I can't feel it anyway," she spoke harshly as she pulled her hands away.  
  
"What happed Skye?" Jason asked as he stopped her from moving away with his hold on her shaking arms.  
  
"I can't feel anything," she continued on, her eyes far away. "I can't feel it anymore, he broke it."  
  
"He as in Sonny?" Jason asked, receiving a cold laugh from Skye. He looked to Courtney with worry as his sister's laughs turned to more tears.  
  
"What did he brake Skye?" Courtney asked, coming to stand beside Jason.  
  
"Everything. He broke my hope, our home, and my heart. He broke it all- and he doesn't even care," she stated bitterly before she finally broke down again. Falling into her brother's arms, she let her pain take over as the tears spilled over Jason's chest.  
  
"What happened Skye?" he asked gently as he raised her chin with his hand. "How did he hurt you?"  
  
"Why don't you ask Carly," she stammered out as she took the tissues Courtney placed in her uninjured palm.  
  
"Carly?" they questioned.  
  
"His with her now," she whispered taking a seat on the end on the bed.  
  
"Oh my G-d Skye," Courtney gasped as she sat beside Skye, wrapping her arms around her friend.  
  
"Skye are you sure?" Jason questioned softly, kneeling in front of the two women.  
  
"I saw it with my own eyes, Jason. He kissed her, then he did more and that's just putting it mildly," Skye spoke looking down to her hands.  
  
"I just can't believe it-"  
  
"You don't believe me?" She pulled out of Courtney's arms.  
  
"No! No, I'm not saying that, Skye. I know you're-"  
  
"No, I'm sorry I snapped at you," she apologized softly. "I just can't be here anymore. I need to get us out of here."  
  
"Us?" Courtney gently questioned as she cleaned Skye's cut with the bandage Jason had retrieved from the bathroom.  
  
"Oh, didn't I mention I'm three weeks pregnant with Sonny's baby," she stated sadly. "I was on my way to tell him the good news. I thought that if he knew he was going to be a father, that maybe it would help him remember the plans we had made. When I found him though, he already had company."  
  
"You should still tell him," Courtney stated. "Maybe it could still help."  
  
"No!" Skye spoke sternly as she stepped away from the two and walked in a small semicircle around the bed. "I can't."  
  
"But you know he wouldn't turn his back on you if he knew your were pregnant," she pleaded.  
  
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" she questioned angrily before adding more calmly, "I'm not going to use my child to keep him in my life. He still loves Carly and they are obviously together now."  
  
"But what happiness if he remembers Skye?" Courtney asked walking towards her.  
  
"That's 'if' he ever remembers," Jason finally spoke.  
  
"Jason! You can't say that. We have to believe that Sonny might remember one day," Courtney pleaded to the two siblings.  
  
"Look at me Courtney! I can't remember any of the love I know I should feel for my parents! Do you know how hard that is, to look in their eyes and see the hope they have for me but not being able to do anything about it?"  
  
They were all silent as the cloud of emotions began to settle. Courtney was sitting in the leather chair next to the bed, staring down at the chain Skye had ripped from her neck early. Jason stood motionless in front of the bed, watching Skye walk slowly towards him, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry Jason," she spoke softly.  
  
"It's not your fault Skye," he said as he turned to face her, pulling her into his arms. "I'm sorry he can't remember how much he loved you."  
  
"I'm sorry to," she spoke, her voice vibrating against his shoulder.  
  
"Are you sure you want to leave?"  
  
"I can't stay here Jason. I can't watch them-watch them together and he can't know. He can't know about my baby."  
  
"Skye-," Courtney began to plead softly.  
  
"I'll take you wherever you need to go," Jason interrupted.  
  
"Thank you Jason," she spoke gently, hugging him tighter.  
  
"Do you know where you want to go?" He asked.  
  
"Upstate," she stated as she stepped back.  
  
"To the cabin?" Courtney questioned. "Why would you do that to your self- again. Aren't there too many memories in those walls?"  
  
"That's the point, I guess. I want to raise our child in the home where I started to love Sonny. That was our hidden place away from everyone, except our love ones," she added looked to Jason and then Courtney. "He brought me there to heal and right now I have a broken heart that needs healing, what better place to go?"  
  
"You know we're going to be visiting almost every day," Courtney spoke with tears as she hugged Skye tightly. "You can't keep us away."  
  
"I don't want to keep you out of my life or my baby's life but can you keep this from Sonny?" she asked looking to her eyes.  
  
"What if he remembers Skye?"  
  
"If he remembers he'll know where they are," Jason stated.  
  
"Our time at the cabin is lost with the rest of his memories, so only when he remembers will he know," Skye explained. "Can you keep this from him Courtney? I'm sorry I'm putting you both in this position but I wouldn't unless it was important."  
  
Courtney nodded silently, promising to not speak a word of it to Sonny.  
  
**  
  
*****  
  
***********  
  
*****  
  
**  
  
TBC 


	12. And all of the kings men

Beyond Recollection ~ A Sonny & Skye FanFiction  
  
Chapter Twelve ~ And all of the kings men  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
The sound of the heavy elevator doors clanging shut woke her. Slowly she raised her stiffened neck away from the leather couch and looked to the door of the pent house, waiting for it to open. His muffled voice speaking to the bodyguard outside reached her pounding ears and she stood in response.  
  
Turning her back from the now opening door, her eyes stayed fixated to the ticking clock above the mantle. The hour was early, nearly six in the morning.  
  
'He must have spent the night at Carly's,' she thought bitterly, listening to the front door swing shut.  
  
"Max said no one was home," Sonny spoke simply, throwing his coat over the desk chair.  
  
"He was mistaken," she stated simply in a harsh tone. "Where have you been Sonny?"  
  
"I don't think that's really any of your business," he spoke as he moved to the bar beside her, pouring himself a glass. "But I'm guessing from your attitude that you already know where I was or at least 'who' I was with."  
  
"Well, when you decided that the dock was a suitable mating ground, you should have guessed that someone could have been watching."  
  
He poured the contents of his drink into his mouth before he slammed the glass down. "It does not concern you, Courtney."  
  
"Yes it does, Sonny!" she yelled back raising her voice, anger flashing in her eyes.  
  
"No, it doesn't!" he bellowed throwing his glass towards the mantle. It crashed against the clock her eyes had focussed on just moments before, broken glass falling to their feet. "I don't care if you saw us but you-- ,"  
  
"I didn't see you," Courtney interrupted and watched confusion pass over her brother's features before she went on. "But someone else did."  
  
"Who?" Sonny asked turning away from her to stare at mantle as a few drops of his drink dripped to the ground of broken glass.  
  
"Skye," she bit out sharply and simply. He hung his head low the moment her name passed Courtney's lips, wishing it could had been anyone else.  
  
"I didn't want her to find out like that," he spoke softly as he stared down to the broken pieces of his life, waiting to be put back together.  
  
"She shouldn't have had to find out, Sonny! Because you should have never betrayed her like that!"  
  
"You don't understand," he whispered, griping the cold marble of the mantle.  
  
"I understand plenty," she fought back.  
  
"You know nothing about what goes on in here!" he shouted, violently pointing to his head. "You don't know what I feel!"  
  
"I get that I could never understand what is going on inside of your head Sonny, but that's the way it has always been. You have always been so unpredictable. I could never guess what you were thinking or feeling," she spoke with a hint of animosity before continuing softly. "Until I saw you with her."  
  
He looked at her through the corners of his eyes before returning his gaze back to the shards of glass.  
  
"When you looked at her, everyone knew what you were feeling. I've never seen your eyes light up brighter or become softer and warmer then the way they did when you were near her. It was love that did that, Sonny."  
  
"Its not my fault I can't feel that love!"  
  
"You're right. The accident could never be your fault but what you did to her has to be but on your shoulders. On your conscience!"  
  
"I can't love a woman I can only remember hating!"  
  
"But you can give her false hopes by pretending you did, by taking her into your arms and bed. All to just turn away from her and run back to the person that broke your heart!"  
  
"My love for Carly is all I have left! It's all I know and it's the only thing that hasn't changed in my life!"  
  
"But it did change Sonny! Whether you can remember or not, Carly was cruel and heartless to you. She had an affair and led you to believe that Ric's child was your own!"  
  
"I have to give her another chance. I can't do this anymore," he motioned around them.  
  
"Can't do what? Live in the life you wished for, with the woman you loved!"  
  
"I love Carly!" he snapped brutally. "You can't change that!"  
  
"She's using you Sonny!"  
  
"How?"  
  
"You were the one who helped Bobbie get custody of Michael. She needs you to undo what you did and without your memory you are simply prey to her."  
  
"She wouldn't do that!"  
  
"Just like she didn't betray you with Ric!"  
  
"I love her."  
  
"Sonny--,"  
  
"I just can't be with Skye, not when I love another."  
  
"But you where going to live your life with Skye." Hesitating for a moment, Courtney continued with caution, "You were going to start a family together."  
  
"You don't know that, Courtney. Whose to say that we would have even lasted?"  
  
"You did," she stated firmly pulling a folded envelope from the back pocket of her jeans.  
  
"What is that?" Sonny asked, eyeing it with worry.  
  
"You should know she's gone," she spoke ignoring his question, watching as an unreadable emotion flashed across his features. "She left this letter for you before leaving. I don't know what it says but I can only imagine that her words are only what you want to hear. She didn't want you to know the pain and anger she felt when Jason and I found her. She's too good of a person to try and ruin you with guilt, but the same can't be said for myself. I want you to know what you have done to her.  
  
"You broke her heart Sonny. You've become another mark in the tally of people she has given her all to, only to be broken and left with nothing. You are no better than Jax and AJ now, what does that tell you?"  
  
"It tells me that she did the right thing by leaving."  
  
"Then I want you to have this as well," she spoke reaching into her front pocket and pulling out a gold chain. She placed it and the letter on the bar beside them before turning to leave.  
  
"What is that?" Sonny's voice cracked as he stared down at the glittering chain and the diamond ring attached to it.  
  
Courtney turned and stared at her brother for a long moment. He looked almost defeated as she spoke her last words. "That's her engagement ring. She found it in your belongings from the hospital and has been wearing is ever since. The chain is broken, though. She must have broken it when she tore it from her neck."  
  
'No. No. No. No. No.'  
  
"It can't be," Sonny desperately shook his head, looking away.  
  
"It is and its not going to go away just because 'you' can't remember it. Well remember this, I have no doubt in my mind that you will get your memory back. You are too strong to let such a thing beat you, but your actions yesterday cost you the only woman who loved you for who you where and never asked you to change. I can't even say that she has stopped loving you, G-d is too cruel in her case. No, she'll love you for the rest of her life. Broken heart and all!"  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
TBC 


	13. Broken Heart and All

Beyond Recollection - _A Sonny & Skye FanFiction_  
Chapter Thirteen - _Broken Heart and All_

With a slam of the brakes Skye lurched foreword in her seat, the sudden movement arousing her from her troubled dreams. Her right hand had flown out in front of her, grasping onto the dashboard, while the other protectively covered her stomach.  
  
"W—what happened?" she asked, looking to her brother in the drivers seat.  
  
"Tree branch," Jason replied simply, taking a deep breath.  
  
"What?" she asked, blinking herself fully from sleep.  
  
"In the road," his gloved finger pointed above the steering wheel towards the front of the car. Skye followed his gesture towards the road, spotting the fallen debris.  
  
"Oh," Skye mumbled weakly, falling back against her seat.  
  
"Skye, you ok?" Jason asked with worry taking her shaking hand into his own.  
  
"I'm fine, just a little tired. Should we move it?" she asked moving the topic from herself.  
  
"Yeah, I'm gonna get it out of the road. You stay here and keep warm," he requested. Skye nodded mutely, not having the energy to answer.  
  
Jason stepped out of the car, shutting the door quickly to protect his sister from the early morning air. Through the fogging glass she watched him attack the branches littering the road before letting her eyes wander to the heavy forest surrounding them.  
  
Autumn was quickly passing in these woods. The frosted and colored leaves had fallen and now the bare limbs waited the impending winter season. Not a building or structure in sight, simply miles and miles of bark and sap. They would only drive through one small town, as they grew closer to her destination.  
  
Leaning her forehead against the cold glass of the passenger window, she involuntarily let her thoughts drift to Sonny. Doubts and self-loathing clouded her vision as she blinked back a single tear, cradling her stomach and unborn child.  
  
_'Does he even care that I'm gone?'_ she thought, as her mind brought forth the image of Sonny in Carly's embrace. She winced, brushing aside the retaliating tears.  
  
"Does he even notice?" she whispered, sadness etched between each word.

* * *

He didn't want to open it.  
  
He didn't want to read her words of pain or her heartbroken good byes.  
  
He didn't want his doubts of pushing her away to grow.  
  
He had to let her go. The light and love he had seen glowing in her eyes had been slowly extinguishing over the past few days. The strength she put into holding herself together in front of him had been causing the dark circles under her watering eyes. The tears she shed when she thought no one could see had broken his soul. He had stumbled upon her hidden breakdowns twice in the last week. Each time he had observed her huddled form, rocking slowly as silent tears fell. Her hands had always been clutched close to her chest, hiding the object he now holds.  
  
A broken chain...  
  
A broken promise...  
  
The ring was exactly the type he would have chosen for Skye. The band, a symbol of her strength and, at times, hard exterior. The diamond held no question to the beauty and elegance that was Skye, while the unseen inscription was like her truest emotions, secret and hidden.  
  
Suddenly, with a growl of frustration he pulled her letter from the table. He owed it to her to read it. In his mind, he felt he deserved the guilt, the grief, and the suffering it would bring. With her ring clutched in his right hand, its shaking pair pulled the paper from its envelope.

_Dear Sonny,  
  
It's time for me to move on and to finally let you go. The life I shared with you has died along side with the memories lost in your mind. I've been holding onto a man I can no longer long for you to be. Seeing you with Carly opened my eyes to that truth, you are no longer my Sonny. In my mind it's as if you are two separate people; the Sonny Corinthos who will forever be with Carly and the Sonny who protected and loved me with everything he had. I want you to know that I could never hate you for going back to Carly. You remember your love for her and I could never try to take that from you. I think me leaving is better for both of us. I wish for you to find everything you always dreamed of in Carly. You deserve happiness Sonny, I hope you will find it in the arms of the woman you love. Thank you for the memories I am leaving with. I will always hold the days and nights I spent with you close to my heart. You helped me through the most difficult period of my life, you reached and healed me when no others could or tried for that matter. You will always be my hero, my friend, and my greatest love.  
  
Always & Forever, _

_Skye  
_  
His eyes fell shut with the conclusion of her letter as his head fell forward and a tear quietly fell towards her written words. The small drop landed on her signature and Sonny let out a painful laugh as the words 'Always & Forever' blurred with irony before the ink trickled down the paper.  
  
TBC...

[A/N] Sorry for my long ass disappearance! Computer went psycho and I had to take it in. HOLY CRAPPER it had 211 viruses!!! KaZaA is evil!! No more downloading music!!! Bad, bad, bad!!! Ok, well with my little time away from the wonderful world of the internet I was able to outline the rest of this fanfiction...WAHOO...now I just have to write it. So I hope none of you have given up on this one because I am determined to finish it! 


	14. In the Dark

Beyond Recollection - _A Sonny & Skye FanFiction_

Chapter Fourteen - _In the Dark  
_  
**

* * *

**

**Two Months Later  
**  
Sonny Corinthos could not sleep. Through the darkness of the night he glanced beside him, sleeping calmly after an evening of laborious lovemaking was Carly. Her blonde hair was scattered across the pillow, and with sheets tangled around her waist she slept.  
  
Rolling onto his back, he watched the dancing shadows that moved across the ceiling in an attempt to bore himself to sleep. A sudden snort and snore from beside him caused him to squeeze his lids shut as he let out a groan of annoyance.  
  
_'Skye never snored,'_ he commented in his thoughts before shaking his head in aggravation. In the time that Skye had left town he had been unable to remove her from his thoughts. He often found himself comparing her to Carly; an occurrence that proved both pleasing and disconcerting. He needed to forget about her. He needed to finally begin to move on with the woman beside him, the one he could remember loving.  
  
"What I really need is sleep," he mumbled quietly as he forced his thoughts from Skye.  
  
The rustling of sheets beside him, as Carly shifted in her sleep, pulled the memory of the nights activity into his thoughts. Hoping it would push him closer to sleep, he continued to picture himself and Carly. Scenes of rolling bodies and roaming hands surfaced, along side of the sounds of their heavy panting and hoarse moans. When the vision of Carly throwing her head back suddenly appeared, something began to change.  
  
As his memory continued to play, the sheets around him changed from their normal and familiar black satin, to an unfamiliar green and white quilt. The scene in his mind had somehow changed and he was no longer in his penthouse bedroom. The dark and dismal walls he knew transformed into wood and stone. A glow from a stone fireplace settled over him and his companion, its warm light dancing on their skin.  
  
He did not recognize this place and as he squeezed his lids tighter he suddenly saw why. The woman in his arms had also changed. Carly's lanky and bony body was no longer the one he held. Her skin was now porcelain colored and soft under his fingertips as he fell further into the foreign memory.  
  
His fervent and hurried movements were now gentle and slow, building a sensation stronger than any he could ever remember feeling or experiencing with Carly.  
  
_"Sonny,"_ her soft voice spoke causing him to trail his eyes higher to meet her own. As he stared into the depths of her hazel gaze, he was lost. The strong emotion held there began to lure him into a feeling of content as she started to lean forward.  
  
Their lips met with a charge of heat and desire. Dizzy and dazed, Sonny's eyes drifted close as he allowed the pure bliss of her lips to overwhelm him. With her hands softly cradling his face she broke the kiss, softly whispering his name. As the sound of her voice flooded over him, his eyes slowly opened and he was greeted with her angelic smile, framed by her auburn locks.  
  
"Skye," he spoke out loud as her image slipped away. His eyes fluttered open to the dark and dismal master bedroom of his penthouse. Turning his head towards the warm body at his left, a wave of disappointment crossed his features as he saw blonde instead of auburn.  
  
"What did you expect?" he thought to himself as he rolled away from Carly's idle form. "It was just a memory." In the next moment, Sonny bolted into a sitting position, eyes wide and filled with realization.  
  
"A memory," he repeated to himself. "I remembered."  
  
Quickly, but gently, he removed himself from the tangled black satin and quietly moved across the darkened room. Without a second glance to the woman asleep in his bed, Sonny moved with determination down the stairs.  
  
His silhouette crossed the living room, the falling snow illuminating his form in the dark as he moved to sit at his desk. Silently pulling the top drawer open, he reached into the desk, fingers searching for the velvet box hidden there. With success, he pulled the small box from its home and softly pulled the lid open.  
  
Skye's diamond engagement ring stared back at him from the interior of the tiny box. Wordlessly he pulled the small ring from the folds of velvet, discarding the box into the drawer before he moved away from the desk.  
  
The first snowfall of the New Year continued to coat Port Charles in a blanket of white as Sonny pressed his back to the cool glass of the window. Cradling the small ring in his fingers, he looked down at it with longing. If what he had just witnessed in his thoughts was in fact a memory and not the beginnings of a dream, then did that mean he would be able to recover his entire memory? Was he willing to appease his longing to be with Skye on the mere hope that all of his memory would return. What if it did not?  
  
What if all he was left with was this new memory of their lovemaking?

They had slept together before, knowing that they had slept together before his accident wouldn't help him to recover any lost feelings and emotions. He still couldn't remember when his feelings for Skye first changed, he couldn't remember telling her about his mother, and he still couldn't remember how she had obtained the scars she never spoke of.  
  
Replaying the scene of her over in his mind, he tried hard to identify the location it had taken place at. The rustic design and warm colors were unrecognizable, and yet he knew he should be able to recognize the room. There was something there; just beyond his reach like it had been the day he discovered Skye's first scar. He could sense it below the surface as he tried in vain to reach through the murky waters of his memory, in hopes of rescueing it.  
  
The loud ringing of the telephone brought him away from his task. Letting out a small shout of irritation, he hurried to the phone.  
  
"Hello," he answered softly after taking a deep breath. His eyes stayed focussed to the stairs, willing Carly not to appear.  
  
"Hello?" he repeated into the silent line. "Is anyone there?"  
  
A soft exhale was his only reply.  
  
"Who's there?" he asked with persistence.  
  
"Sonny?" Carly's voice echoed from the stairs. "Who is on the phone this late? It's almost twelve."  
  
Looking towards the disheveled blonde as she stalked towards him, he discreetly placed Skye's ring into his pocket.  
  
"Why don't you come back to bed?" she suggested as she pulled the phone from his hand, prepared to hang it up.  
  
"Don't do that! Someone's there," he bit out in frustration.  
  
"No one's there Sonny. The line is dead now," she assured as she placed the receiver into its cradle and began to pull him towards the stairs.

* * *

Skye could not sleep. Through the darkness of the night she glanced beside her, to the empty space in bed, and buried her reoccurring loneliness as she clenched her eyes shut. Quickly turning her head away from his empty side of the bed, she glanced at the clock on her night table.  
  
"11:37," she groaned. "I'm never going to fall asleep."  
  
Rising slowly, she pulled herself from the large four poster bed and padded across the dark room. Pulling her discarded robe from the rocking chair in the corner, she quickly put it on and tied it loosely above her protruding belly.  
  
Close to entering her second trimester, Skye's belly was visible in most things she wore. No longer having to worry about impressing investors or high-ups, she had long since overlooked her tailored suits and slimming dresses for extremely more comfortable garments. Since her belly had only just began to really show, she had been wearing sweaters and a few of Jason's shirts Courtney had rustled up for her. Though, in the weeks and months to come, her current maternity wardrobe would need to be expanded, a point Courtney had stated that morning before suggesting they drive into the city for the day tomorrow.  
  
A day in New York would be a fun change in scenery for Skye. For the past two months she's seen only the cabin and it's surrounding woods. Though a small town was located twenty minutes down the road; Skye didn't travel there often. She really had no need to, especially with Jason and Courtney's regular visits with any supplies she would need.  
  
She owed them so much.  
  
Tiptoeing down the wooden stairs of the cabin, in an effort not to wake her visitor, she frowned slightly as she looked down at Courtney asleep on the couch. Skye had told her to come up and share her bed once she had grown tired tired, she should have known Courtney would had stayed on the couch for her benefit.  
  
Skye approached the couch slowly, stepping over the scattered pieces of the puzzle they had attempted that afternoon once the snow had taken out the television. She untangled the blanket at Courtney's feet and pulled it to her shoulders before moving towards the fireplace and adding a small log to keep the downstairs from freezing.  
  
The cabin was old and though it did have conventional heating, the main sources of heat were the two large stone fireplaces, one located in the living room and the other in the master bedroom up stairs. Her bedroom and bath were really all that the upstairs consisted of, and though large, it could be considered a loft with the balcony over looking the large downstairs.  
  
Downstairs there was a small cozy kitchen in the corner of the house, the main room of the cabin, a second bathroom, and the spare bedroom. Courtney had spent the better part of her week's stay in the spare room, painting the walls a soft yellow in preparations of making the room a nursery. The main room, which the upstairs balcony over looked, was one large living room. Adorned with bookshelves, overstuffed furniture, and large rugs, the room's warm and inviting atmosphere created a space Skye never wished to leave at times.  
  
Walking to the large French doors beside the dinning table, Skye looked out at the snow-covered world. The moonlight created a soft glow of blue across the fresh blanket of powder and she remembered last Christmas with Sonny, when she had thought the same thing standing with his arms wrapped tightly around her.  
  
A small sad smile formed on her features as Sonny once again entered her thoughts. From Jason she knew that Carly had moved back into the penthouse and was currently trying to convince Sonny to let her redecorate. Skye supposed this was to rid them of all evidence that she had ever lived there. The evidence was everywhere too, as it should have been. Skye had spent more than a year of her life in that penthouse and with Sonny.  
  
Without him, the past two months had been painful for Skye. So used to his care and love, she learned the hard way how much she had really relied on him each day.  
  
She now hated the nighttime because it meant facing the room and bed they once shared. Lying beside his cold and empty space each night, she only wished to hear his voice just one last time. The voice that had whispered I love you's, confessed hidden secrets and wishes, and most of all comforted her when she had cried in his arms.  
  
In the next moment Skye hastily made her way back upstairs, silently crossing the room and climbing the stairs. Then, without thinking, she picked up the phone that sat beside her bed.  
  
The clock next to it on her night table now read 11:49pm as she dialed the number she had longed to call for two months.  
  
"Ringing, it's ringing," she nervously thought, taking a deep breath and preparing herself for whatever would happen next.  
  
_"Hello,"_ came his warm voice from the other end.  
  
Skye couldn't speak. It had been two months since she had heard his voice and she was trying her hardest not burst into tears.  
  
_"Hello?"_ he repeated due to her lack of reply. _"Is anyone there?"  
_  
G-d! What could she say? How would he react to hearing from her? Did he even want to hear from her? Letting out a soft exhale, Skye began to build the courage to speak.  
  
_"Who's there?"  
_  
What would she say first? That she misses him and that she still is very much in love with him? That she is three months pregnant with his child and wished that he wanted a child as much as she did? Had his memory returned? Did he love her?  
  
Deciding on simply beginning with asking how he was, Skye took one final deep breath before opening her mouth to speak to him. Before the words could even pass her lips, the silence of the line was broken.  
  
_"Sonny?"_ Carly's voice echoed through the receiver. _"Who is on the phone this late? It's almost twelve."  
_  
The words were forgotten as her eyes closed and her head fell.  
  
_"Why don't you come back to bed?"  
_  
A tear fell onto her raised belly as she hung up the phone. His name crossed her lips in a whisper before she climbed fully into bed. Lying down on the green and white quilt, she silently cried herself to sleep.  
  
TBC... 


	15. The Trigger

Beyond Recollection – _A Sonny & Skye FanFiction_

Chapter Fifteen – _The Trigger_

_

* * *

_"Why don't you come back to bed?" Carly suggested as she pulled the phone from his hand, prepared to hang it up.  
  
"Don't do that! Someone's there," he bit out in frustration.  
  
"No one's there Sonny. The line is dead now," she assured as she placed the receiver into its cradle and began to pull him towards the stairs.  
  
"No!" he bit out sharply, pulling his arm from her grasp. At her shocked expression he softened his tone, "I'm sorry. It's just that I have some business I need to finish before I come up."  
  
"Alright," Carly said before she slithered her arms around his shoulders. "But don't take too long," she spoke against his neck as she ran her lips up to his ear.  
  
"I'll try not to," he stated pulling her back and kissing her quickly on the forehead. He watched her disappear up the stairs before he turned and headed back to his desk. Removing Skye's engagement ring from his pocket, he sat and again let his thoughts travel back to the memory of her. Creating a mental tally, he listed the details of the scene.  
  
"Stone fireplace, green and white quilt," Sonny mumbled quietly leaning his elbows in the desk. "Four-poster bed, rocking chair in the corner of the room, and – and – SHIT!" Slamming his fist on the surface of the desk, he pushed away from the desk with aggravation and slouched back into the leather chair. The details of the room were nowhere as clear as the images of Skye.  
  
Holding her ring eye level, he willed for some kind of clue as how to remember. He just need to –  
  
_"Beep, beep, beep. If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again."  
_  
Sonny's eyes snapped open as the sound of the operator penetrated his concentration. With a growl of anger he quickly leaned forward and slammed the phone, which Carly had clearly not hung up properly, into its cradle.  
  
It was at that moment that Sonny recalled the strange phone call that had driven him from his concentration earlier. He knew someone had been on the other end, aside from the strong feeling he had, the soft exhale had been proof alone. There was something else, something he couldn't put his finger on but needed to figure out.  
  
Pulling the phone from the cradle, he dialed.  
  
"Jeff," he spoke with anticipation. "I need you to trace the last incoming call to my house line."  
  
_"Yes, sir,"_ Jeff replied before answering a moment later. _"The call was long-distance, maybe upstate. I'll have a number in a few more seconds, but the address will take me longer."  
_  
"Was it a business?"  
  
_"No sir, a residence."  
_  
"Just give me the number. Do you have it yet?" he spoke with impatience.  
  
_"Yes sir, here it is,"_ he paused. _"3-1-2-5-5-5-0-6-9-0."_

"Thank you," Sonny spoke before once again setting the phone in its cradle. Staring down at the number, its unfamiliarity bothered him greatly as he sat in concentration.

He'd been rolling Skye's ring back and forth between his fingers unknowingly, when the small object suddenly fell to the floor with a soft clink, causing Sonny's eyes to snap open. He quickly bent forward and pulled it into his grasp, before sitting up quickly. The back of his head hit the desk hard, sending objects falling to the ground and causing him to wince and hiss sharply in reply.  
  
Rubbing the quickly forming bruise, he looked down at the mess at his feet. Bills, pens, and debris where scattered around the floor of the desk.  
  
"Sir?" Max questioned, opening the door a crack. "You alright?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine Max," Sonny assured the reliable guard, moving forward to clean up the fallen items once Max had gone.  
  
"I just need to be left alone for five fu—," his mumbled rants ceased as his eyes caught sight of an object at his feet.  
  
The silver letter opener stood away from the remaining fallen objects. The reflected moon light shown in his eyes as he bent forward to pick it up. With a curious stare, he wondered why he had been drawn to the object. Suddenly, without a warning, his mind went dark and the beginnings of a new memory attacked him.

* * *

_Though nighttime, the July heat pounded him with little concern, his heavy footsteps echoing against the pavement as he wandered through the deserted park. The park was still littered with traces of last weekends Fourth of July celebrations, as Sonny continued to walk the familiar paths. Thoughts and mind lost on his resent marital uncertainties and speculations; he walked deeper and deeper into the wooded trails.  
  
The sky was unaccompanied that night, heavy clouds concealing any trace of moon or stars. The darkness was relaxing to him. With only the paved trail before him, he was undistracted by the noises a stroll on the streets of Port Charles would have brought about.  
  
A sudden scream pulled him from his thoughts, forcing Sonny to look high and low for its owner. The rustling of bushes ahead of him caught his attention, as a figure quickly ran across the path and into the woods on his left. Prepared to follow the disappearing figure, assuming they had been the one to scream, he was surprised when a second scream came from behind him.  
  
Approaching the direction the mystery person had fled from, Sonny quickly pushed through the heavy brush. Blood bumping and heart racing, he stumbled out of the bushes and discovered a second trail. Following it, his adrenaline peaked as the cry of a woman forced his feet and limbs to move quicker.  
  
Thunder sounded above as the heavy clouds let lose, crashing a blinding rain on his shoulders as he pushed under a low branch and stumbled into a small courtyard.  
  
"Hey!" he called as man quickly darted behind a stone bench and ran into the woods behind it. Sonny collapsed against the hard ledge of the stone fountain, gulping in breaths of air as he watched the man disappear.  
  
"Asshole," he mumbled resting on the ledge, silently wondering why so many were fleeing the woods that evening.  
  
Glancing down at the raindrop-clouded water of the fountain, he discovered it was darker than it should be and reaching into the cool water his eyes widened. Blood polluted the surface of the fountain pool, before the falling rain cleaned away all evidence it had even existed.  
  
Fearful eyes suddenly scanned the depths of the fountain, before he found what had been the cause of the bloody water. Reaching into the fountain, Sonny's hand pulled out the discarded weapon. He held the knife in his palm, starring down at it with concern.  
  
"Where is the victim?" he thought frantically as his eyes scanned the small courtyard. The two figures could not have been injured, their strides had been both been fast and even. Neither had stumbled or showed any signs of injury.  
  
Pushing off of the ledge he stood, ears searching through the thunder and eyes peering through the curtain of rain. Quickly walking through the small courtyard, he stumbled and ultimately tripped over a raised tree root.  
  
Sonny cursed loudly as he crawled to his knees. Eyes first searching for the lost knife, which had been dropped in his fall, before he looked over his shoulder to the offending tree root, finding it was not a tree root at all.  
  
It was a body._ _

* * *

_Sonny's eyes snapped open as the sudden memory ended abruptly as it had begun. Blinking rapidly, he looked around and discovered he had fallen to his knees during his black out. Sweat had formed on his brow and his eyes had grown heavy. Lifting his arm to wipe his dampened forehead, he noticed he still held the letter opener in his hand.  
  
Hastily throwing the object to the ground and staggering away from it, realizing the resemblance to a knife had been the reason the letter opener had triggered his newest memory.  
  
Moving quickly towards the stairs, not caring if he woke Carly or not, he climbed towards his bedroom and rushed through the door.  
  
"Sonny? What are you doing?" Carly asked groggily from the bed as she watched him moved quickly to his bureau. "Sonny?" she asked louder, sitting up as she he sat on the end of the bed to put on his shoes. She rose quickly and followed his retreating form out the bedroom door.  
  
"Sonny!" she called as she ran down the stairs to catch up with him.  
  
"I have to go Carly," he spoke hastily as he reached for his coat.  
  
"Go? Go where, Sonny? It's nearly one am!"  
  
"I need to remember," he told her finally before he left.  
  
"What the hell!" Carly shouted with a slam of her bare foot to the ground. "F-ck!" she shouted as her foot encountered a sharp object instead of the ground. Looking down, eyes widening once they spotted the diamond engagement ring.  
  
"Little bitch," she growled.  
  
TBC...

* * *

[A/N]: Ok, I'm trying to get out as many chapters as I can right now, if you hadn't already noticed – lol – because after this weekend I don't know when I'm going to be able to update. Grrrr!! Me sorry!!! But I'm graduating on Tuesday!!! I really can't wait, but I am going to cry my eyes out! I really loved High School and I'm sad that I have to leave. But hey, I'm going to be a teacher so I'll be back in a High School in a couple of years. Ok, done babbling! But don't loose faith in me! If I have to stay up to 4am some days, I will!! I am going to finish this one!!! 


	16. Courtyard Memories

Beyond Recollection – _A Sonny & Skye FanFiction_

A/N: I just wanted to give a little warning for this chapter. There are some curse words and it does deal with a very serious subject. I don't think it should be rated 'R' but if I'm wrong please tell me and I will change it.

Chapter Sixteen – _Courtyard Memories_

The early morning Sonny encountered, as he walked along the paved paths, was nothing like the night from his most recent memory. This sky was free of dark heavy clouds, and instead littered with fallen snowflakes. The July heat he had encountered in his memory was nothing like the current January frost biting painfully at his nose and cheeks.

Like the memory though, the paths and ground were still slightly littered with debris from the recent holiday. Pieces of colorful confetti and paper noisemakers began to disappear under the falling powder of snow. New Year's had always been a time Sonny tried to rectify himself. Unlike prior years, wiping away past sins and violence was not in his thoughts this New Year. All he wanted was his memory, a task that now seemed unattainable.

Sonny was miserable. He was cold, tired and no where near finding the courtyard he was so desperately searching for. Pushing aside the edge of his black leather glove, he groaned as he read the time on his wristwatch.

"2:09am," he grumbled returning his hands into the warm depths of his coat pockets. "This is impossible!" he groaned coming across his own footprints. "I'm going in damn circles!"

Turning his head towards the sky, a wave of desperation fell over him. Just as he was about to give his search up completely, a voice spoke from behind.

"Why are you out here Sonny?"

Turning, he looked to his best friend with eyes of regret. Their friendship had been taking a turn for the worse these past weeks. Ever since Carly had moved back into the penthouse Jason practically stopped all communication between them. Aside from business phone calls and meetings Sonny never saw the man that used to be a constant presence in his life.

Jason would not step a foot near Sonny's penthouse and he now kept his own locked. Most of the time Sonny didn't even know where Jason was and the idea of having him followed crossed his mind more than once, but in the end he couldn't. He wouldn't push him even further away. If someone had done to Courtney what he had done to Skye, they would be dead. He broke his sister's heart, and now his own was bruised because of it.

"How did you know I was here?" he asked, ignoring Jason's question.

"Max called me and told me you had come out here," he spoke stepping closer. "Why Sonny?"

"I needed answers," Sonny spoke honestly looking down at his hands.

"What answers could you find here?"

"What does it matter to you?" he spat out, his anger towards himself preying on Jason.

"Because its important, Sonny!" he shot back before calming his voice. "Did you remember something?"

"How did you know?" he asked with wide eyes, a whisper of desperation in his voice. Jason did not answer; instead he walked past Sonny in silence.

"Where are you going, Jason?" he called out.

"Just follow me," he answered with his back still to Sonny. The snow fell heavier now as they walked deeper into the vacant park.

"Where are we—," he fell silent as he watched Jason veer off the paved path and enter the bushes to their right. Recognizing where they were headed he quickened his pace and practically pushed past Jason as they entered the disserted courtyard from his memory.

"How did you know?" he asked with shock as his eyes wandered over the stone fountain and benches.

"Do you remember what happened here?"

"I—I had heard screaming."

"What did you see?" Jason pushed on.

"Two people ran, I don't know who they were but they ran away from me. Then," he paused looking towards the fountain and then to the ground he had fallen by. "I found a knife and a body."

"That's all you can remember?" he asked before he grasped onto Sonny's shoulders. "Can you remember anything else? Please try Sonny," he pleaded.

"I am trying!" Sonny shouted pushing Jason away. "That's why I'm here!"

"I'm sorry. Sonny, I'm sorry."

"What happened here? Why is it so important?"

"Two summers ago," Jason started but paused.

"What? What happened here two summers ago?"

"Two summers ago, July 2003, you killed R—," Jason began before Sonny cut him off.

"I killed him here?" Sonny asked with confusion, remembering woods and snow from that memory.

"No, you killed him because of what happened here. Because of what he did."

"He was here with Carly wasn't he?" Sonny questioned, his temper rising. "Did I find them here? Did he hurt her?"

"You didn't know about them yet, Sonny. You didn't kill him because of anything he did with Carly or did to Carly," Jason paused taking a breath. "You killed him because of Skye."

"Skye? But—."

"You killed Ric because of what he did to her that night."

* * *

Many miles north of Port Charles, a woman cried in her sleep. Her auburn hair was matted to her forehead with sweat as silent moans of agony stung her lips. Tossing and turning she tangled her green and white quilt at her feet, her soul begging to wake. Trapped and defenseless, her mind repeatedly played the events of the night she prayed to forget. Lost in her nightmare she witnessed the memories one man, miles away, desperately wanted to remember.

"_Just great," she grumbled looking down at her broken stiletto. Shifting her purse and the silver flask she carried to one hand, Skye wobbly bent forward and retrieved the damaged heel. Glaring at it with disgust, she slurred, "If you where Brenda's shoe you wouldn't have broken."_

"_No, no, no," she spoke as she continued further down the path she walked. "Only my things. My brief marriage, my life, and my heart, broken! All of them." _

_Stumbling slightly, she moved further into the center of the park, the dark and silent night only complementing her wretched mood. Raising her flask to her lips she frowned, realizing she hadn't removed the lid. Finding her arms full she let her purse drop to the ground before discarding the broken heel beside it. _

"_There we go," she mumbled in celebration, her fingers free to twist the top of the flask. "Here's to you Jax," she snapped, raising the flask in the air. "May you live a miserable and lonely life, because I know I will." Tossing her head back to take a sip of her drink, she threw off what little balance she had left and fell unceremoniously on her back._

"_Owe," she moaned, squeezing her lids shut and rubbing her forehead in an effort to cease her sudden headache. Slowly moving up on to her elbows she scanned the grass for the flask that she had lost in her fall. _

"_Where are you?" she muttered, rolling onto her hands and knees. Crawling sluggishly through the grass and bushes, her mumbled complaints and curses ceased as she spotted the flask a foot away. Snatching it from the dirt, she suddenly became aware of the voices interfering with her undisturbed evening. _

"_What took you so long?" a man asked._

"_I'm sorry baby, he took forever to fall asleep and I had to sneak past the fucking guard," a familiar voice replied. Interest peaked; Skye parted the bush with her free hand and nearly gasped at the couple standing in the small courtyard. Beside the stone fountain stood Carly Corinthos and Ric Lancing, arms and mouths locked in an embrace. _

_Skye could hardly believe her eyes, let alone her luck, to be the one to discover their affair, and hopefully the first one to use it against them. Practically the first word that crossed her mind was blackmail, after taunting that was. _

Unable to conceal her amusement any longer, Skye rose from the ground and pushed herself through the brush. She stumbled into the courtyard, flask in hand and adorning the broadest smile seen since the Cheshire cat.

"_Well, well," she feigned shock. "What is going on here?"_

"_You interfering bitch!" Carly shrieked. "What are you doing here?"_

"_I should be asking you the same thing, dear. And with your husbands brother no less. Have you no shame?" _

"_If you say a word I'll –_

"_You'll what?" she taunted the blonde._

"_I'll kill you!"_

"_Calm down Carly," Ric spoke, holding Carly back from the laughing auburn. "Skye won't be saying a word about this."_

"_Oh, I won't?"_

"_You won't," he assured. The hairs on her arm and neck suddenly stood at the coldness in Ric's voice and eyes. "Go home Carly," he ordered turning to her. "Skye and I need to have a chat."_

"_But –_

"_Don't worry," he soothed before turning his gaze on Skye. "She won't say a word."_

_Time moved faster after that moment. Suddenly Carly was gone and she was left with a man she really knew nothing about. Not understanding the hint of black in his gaze, she backed away, suddenly frightened._

"_Where are you going?" Ric questioned before he lurched forward, a hand to her throat as he pinned her body to the tree behind her._

"_W-what are you doing?" Skye gasped, her hands trying to remove his own. _

"_Insurance," he replied simply as one hand tightened around her neck, his second disappearing into his back pocket._

"_Insurance? For what?" she whimpered, frantically searched his eyes for a trace to what he was thinking of doing. Her heart skipped a beat as she watched him remove the small blade, tracing her jaw line with the dull edge._

"_I need your silence Skye," Ric spoke._

"_You have it! I'm not going to say a word."_

"_The promise of a drunk isn't one I ever trust."_

"_I won't say anything," she cried out, fear running through her. _

"_And I'm going to make sure that you can't," he responded before raising the knife, ready to thrust it towards her. Before the knife could fall, Skye fought back. Kneeing him hard, she then blocked the advancing blade with her left hand, grasping onto his wrist and stopping him from striking. He released her throat instantly and at first Skye thought she had done it. _

_He backhanded her quickly, smashing her head against the rough bark. Through the cloud of pain she registered his angry curses and turning her head towards him, her eyes focussed in time to see the flash of silver before it disappeared into her chest. _

_Her scream was unavoidable. The pain she felt, unimaginable. _

_She cried and slumped forward as he pulled the blade roughly from her before pushing her to the ground. Clutching her right arm over the bleeding wound, shock tore through her system. Using her free arm, Skye tried desperately to scramble away from him._

"_Where do you think you're going?" his sinister voice broke through her hysterics. Approaching slowly, Skye watched in horror as he loosened the belt that he wore_

"_No, no, no, no," she whimpered. "Don't."_

"_You did this to yourself Skye," he informed, standing above her. Lowering himself, he pinned her kicking legs with his body as his hands tried to contain her arms._

"_Help! Help me," she screamed as he pinned her wrists with one hand above her head. "Someone help me!" _

_Ric roughly covered her mouth with his free hand, leaving the knife at his side. Leaning forward, he spoke next to her ear, "No one can hear you, Skye. No one would save you if they could." The tears that fell only caused him to laugh and torment her even further. "You have no friends, no family, and your husband just left you for another woman, you have nothing. No one. You are a nothing to this town, and no one would believe anything you tell them about tonight. Not what you saw, and certainly not what I'm going to do to you."_

_Releasing her mouth, he was unfazed by her screams as he tore open her blood-covered blouse. _

"NO!" she shouted, tears burning her cheeks. "Please, no," she sobbed into her hands as the memory played on. She clutched at the soft quilt, racking her nails across it as the images polluted her vision. The vision of him roughly undressing her and later stabbing her for a second time in order to subdue her struggles finally pulled her from her sleep.

Bolting to an upright position, she gasped for air as her sobbing slowed. Heartbeat pounding in her ears, she blinked rapidly, clearing her vision of tears. Frantically her eyes scanned the large loft for any sign of her attacker. She jumped slightly at the moving shadows and crawled into a fetal position. Pulling the comforting quilt to her ear she repeated the same phrase over and over until she finally fell into a restless sleep.

"Let me forget, let me forget, let me forget."

TBC


	17. Teardrops and Caring

**Beyond Recollection** – _A Sonny & Skye FanFiction_

A/N: sorry this chapter took so darn long to get out. I didn't like the way it came out, so I kind of deleted it and rewrote it. But I already have the next chapter outlined so it won't be long!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Seventeen** – _Teardrops and Caring_

Nearly 6am and General Hospital was already bustling with visitors and new patients. The heavy snowstorm outdoors, causing multiple accidents and cases of hypothermia, was one of the worst Port Charles has ever seen.

"What is taking so long?" Sonny shouted, causing the young nurse in front of him to jump slightly.

"Sir, Dr. Greene is on his way. His shift wasn't supposed to have started until eleven," she stated mater of factually before rushing away to begin her rounds.

"That's not good enough," Sonny grunted, slamming his fist on the counter.

"Sonny, calm down," Jason urged. "Why do you even need to see this guy?"

"I'm getting my memory back," he answered walking towards the small seating area beside the elevators. "I need to remember everything."

"You can't force this kind of thing Sonny. You're trying your hardest, everyone can see that."

"I need to remember everything about that night."

"I told you everything, Sonny."

"You weren't there that night!" he snapped quietly. "You didn't find her. I did, and I need to see it," he finished pointing to his head.

"And how is guy going to help you?"

"I got his name from Alan. He's a psychiatrist who specializes in this kind of thing."

"What kind of thing?" Jason asked throwing his hands up. "Memory lost?"

"He uses hypnosis as a form of memory recovery," Sonny answered looking down while rubbing the back of his neck.

"What?" Jason questioned with disbelief. "You're going to let some shrink put you under some sort of damn spell?"

"It's going to work Jason."

"What if it doesn't Sonny? Think about the disappointment."

"I'm already a disappointment," he snapped throwing a hand in the air. "And if it doesn't work then I'll be no better off than I am now."

"Maybe you're not remembering that night for a reason. Maybe we should concentrate on the days and nights that made you fall in love with Skye, not the memories you both were haunted with."

"I need to remember it, Jason. Skye needs me to remember it."

"No, what she needs is for you to remember are the good memories. The ones of your friendship and love."

"You don't understand, Jason," Sonny replied in aggravation. "I have been beating myself self up for months because I assumed I had killed Ric because of his affair with Carly." He paused; running a hand over his tired eyes as shame crawled through him. "I pushed you away, I pushed Courtney away, and I pushed Skye away. And for what? For the murder of the man that raped her and gave her those fucking scars!" he cried out slamming his fist into the wall beside him.

"I'm the reason Skye is gone!" he stated, roughly punching his chest with each sentence. "I'm the reason she is pain! I am the reason she is alone and away from everyone she loves!"

"Skye isn't alone Sonny, and there is more to her leaving than you think."

"What else is there?" he questioned loudly. "It's my fault. I took Carly back because I could remember being with her. I didn't fight for my memories. I took the easy way out when I turned my back on Skye and went to Carly. I was a coward."

"You don't understand Sonny, she had to leave."

"Why?"

"Because she needs to protect someone else now."

"Who? Jason? What is going on?"

"Sonny—

"Mr. Corinthos?" a sudden voice asked from behind the pair.

"What?" Sonny snapped keeping his eyes glued to Jason's, trying to read anything from them.

"I'm assuming you are the reason I was called in so early this morning," the man joked as Sonny finally turned to the stranger.

"You're Dr. Gr—

"Dr. Greene, yes. It's good to see you again," he interrupted with a smile, sticking his hand out towards Sonny. "How is Skye?"

"What?" he questioned softly. "You know Skye a-and me?"

"Yes," Dr. Greene answered, looking at Sonny with confusion. "You brought Ms. Quartermaine in to me almost two years ago."

"What? Why?"

"You don't remember any of our sessions?"

"I don't remember much of anything Doctor, this is all new news to me."

"Oh my," Dr. Greene murmured looking down at the file in his hand. "You're suffering from amnesia."

"Yeah. I kinda need your help with that."

"This is very interesting," he mumbled while shaking his head.

"How so?" Sonny asked in defense.

"I'm very sorry for your condition Mr. Corinthos. I just find it interesting that you now suffer from the same condition you brought Ms. Quartermaine in for me to cure." Looking at Sonny and Jason's shocked expressions he continued on for clarification. "She had repressed an attack and you," he motioned to Sonny. "Brought her to see me."

"She didn't remember the attack?"

"It's very normal for survivors of such attacks to repress the event. "But for her privacy, why don't we move this conversation into my office," he stated before motioning for them to follow.

"Alright," Sonny spoke, nodding in agreement before he and Jason both followed the doctor down a nearby hallway.

* * *

_"I was taunting them," Skye spoke. "I wanted to rile them up, especially Carly, but I pushed too far."_

_"Go on," Dr. Greene pushed gently._

"_He told Carly to leave a—and he whispered something to her. I should have known something was wrong then. It's my fault, it's my fault this happened. I was so stupid."_

"_It's not your fault Skye," the doctor protested softly. "You did nothing wrong. Can you tell me what happened next?"_

"_He—he pinned me against a tree a—and he had his hands around my throat," she cried softly. "I told him I wouldn't tell! I wasn't going to tell! I swear wasn't going to," she began to cry harder. _

"_Its alright Skye."_

"_He has a knife!" she sobbed now. "You have it! I'm not going to say a word."_

"_Skye?"_

"_I won't say anything!"_

"_What is he doing Skye?"_

"_No, no, no, no," she whimpered. "Don't."_

"_Skye!"_

"_He's hurting me," she cried weakly. "I can't get up, he's too heavy. My arms, I can't move my arms. There pinned above my head and oh g-d! No!"_

"_What Skye? What's happening?"_

"_H-he is unbuckling his belt. I screamed for help, for someone, for anyone! No, no, no."_

"_You can do this. Keep going."_

"_My blouse, he ripped it open and my shoulder hurts," she whimpered in pain. "I'm bleeding, but he doesn't care. He doesn't care!" Silence filled the room, only the sounds of her tears are heard before she finally speaks again. "Then he pushed my skirt up to my waist and his hands are everywhere, but I fought, I fought back. But he picked up his knife from beside him and he was stabbing me again. Then—and then he—_

"Stop!" Sonny suddenly shouted. "Stop the tape!" Dr. Greene reached forward towards the tape player on his desk and paused the taped session.

"Are you alright Mr. Corinthos?" he asked with concern, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"I just—I just don't know if I can hear this," Sonny confessed putting his head into his hands.

"That was one of the more difficult sessions for her, but if you'll allow me to, I'd like to fast forward a bit."

"I don't know if I can right now Doc," he whispered looking beside him where Jason sat; his friend's eyes were red and his fists clenched to his knees. "I don't know if either of us can."

"I know this is especially hard for the both of you, but I think you'd want to hear the rest," Doctor Greene spoke honestly and with no protest he fast-forwarded a bit on the tape before pressing play.

_"It's was so cold," she whimpered. "My shoulder and stomach hurt so badly. T-there is blood everywhere! I can't move, I can't keep my eyes open. So much red...so much pain."_

_"Where is Ric Skye?"_

"_He's gone, something scared him away."_

"_What scared him away?"_

"_It was a man, I can hear him yelling. I can see him searching the courtyard and I reach out for him. He trips and—and he is laying beside me now. I want him to stop the pain, stop the pain please."_

"_Can you see his face Skye?"_

"_He's so gentle," she cried softly. "He covers me with his jacket a—and he is telling me he is going to help me. He says I'm all right and he cares. Ric was wrong, someone cares."_

"_Ric was wrong when he said that. So many people care for you Skye. You know that, right?"_

"_Yes, no. I don't know."_

"_Do you know who is helping you? Can you see there face Skye?"_

_"Yes, I can see him. It's Sonny. He's helping me,"_ she whispered. Reaching the end of the tape, silence filled the room as Dr. Greene removed the tape from the player.

"I remember when you brought her in, Mr. Corinthos," Dr. Greene spoke, rising from his desk and moving towards the two men. "She was in a horrible case of shock and wouldn't speak to anyone," he paused. "Anyone except for you."

Sonny looked up as the Doctor leaned against his desk in front of him. His eyes burned with fresh tears as he listened intently.

"Alan, Dr. Quartermaine," he corrected. "Brought me in that night to try and get Skye to explain what had happened and to find out who had attacked her. It was only after your persuasion that she even let Bobby examine her, with you bye her side of course. I thought she had a permanent grasp of your arm that night," he smiled softly. "It was very moving to witness, especially once I had learned of your previous antipathy for one and other."

"H—how did you learn about that?"

"Oh, Alan of course. He was furious at you," Dr. Green laughed softly. "He couldn't understand it. I didn't understand it myself, until a month or so later when you brought her in to see me."

"What did you understand?" Sonny asked softly. "Why me?"

"It's as simple as you heard on Skye's tapes," he motioned to the tape player before crossing his arms. "You hated each other so much and yet, when she needed someone the most you took care of her. You cared about her. She was extremely vulnerable, emotionally, with her sudden divorce and disconnection from her family. Then you where there suddenly, taking care and comforting her, probably for more reasons than you thought."

Just as Dr. Greene was about to go on, his beeper suddenly sounded. "I'm very sorry gentleman, but you'll have to excuse me for a moment."

The room stayed quite for long moment, both men lost in the words of Dr. Greene and the emotional recording they had just heard.

"Are you ok?" Sonny suddenly asked his quiet friend.

"Are you?" Jason countered, unable to look up from the floor.

"I don't know," Sonny answered truthfully, turning his head towards Jason. "Maybe you where right about this," he admitted. "I wish the happier memories would start coming back."

"They will Sonny, they will."

"I hope so," he whispered quietly, looking away from his friend and towards the storm outside. His eyes where suddenly memorized by the tree branches scratching against the glass of the window. Unable to tear his eyes away, drawn to the familiar scene of the violent branches. Then suddenly, just as before, his mind went dark with the beginnings of a new memory.

TBC

* * *

A/N #2: Ok, I feel kinda bad about making Ric such a bad guy because on GH I really love his scenes with Alexis!! lol, sorry Ric fans!! If you like the Alexis/Ric pairing as much as I do now, I really, REALLY recommend RiverCity's "Letting Go and Finding Home." It is so good, so sweet, and so freaking well written!!! Read it, it rocks!! lol


	18. Memory Lane

AN: since my updating skills simply suck, I hope this extra long chapter will earn your forgiveness. I'm almost done with this one and then its off to finish my other incompletes. Happy reading!

* * *

Beyond Recollection – _A Sonny & Skye FanFiction_

Chapter Eighteen _– Memory Lane_

_Outside it was dark. _

_Night had faded into morning a long while ago, however the heavy storm clouds looming above imprisoned the daylight in a chamber of obscurity. The rain fell in a flood, blinding and binding everything and anything in its assault. Lightening came in sudden flashes, illuminating the city caught in the storm's looming embrace. The howling of the wind was constant, sending a crash of thick branches against the window of the darkened hospital room._

_Inside it was dark._

_A curtain of sorrow surrounded the two occupants like a noose, griping and squeezing the breath from their bodies. The lights where dimmed per his request and the unsettling shadows and noise from the medical devices where the sole sources of sound and movement in the stilled room. Following each crash of lightening he made his way to her bedside in three quick strides. Watching the even rise and fall of her chest, studying the pale hand grasping the bed sheet, and memorizing the soft contours of her face as they began to stiffen in distress. _

_Her nightmares where routine during his constant vigil. He could recognize the beginning of one with the sudden unsettled intake of breath her sleeping form inhaled, a sign unnoticed by others. _

_In an instant he ordered any nurse or doctor in the room to leave immediately, settling himself on the white linen sheet beside her now stressed form. He felt powerless, as she became victim to another nightmare. Each time her reactions where the same. First came the quick and deep intakes of breath, before her hands dug into the mattress to her sides. Silent mumbles then began to escape from her trembling lips; each whimpered 'no' a direct stab to his heart. Unable to watch her suffer any longer, he quickly woke her as a stream of tears pooled from her shut lashes. _

"_Skye," he spoke gently, bending forward slightly while brushing his hands across her face in soft comforting strokes. "Skye, wake up. It's just a dream." His gentle coaxes registered slowly to her still trembling form. Wiping aside the wet trail from her eyes with the pads of his thumbs, he watched as her breathing began to return to its normal state. Locking her pale hands between one of his larger one, he continued to follow the porcelain trail of her cheek with his other._

"_Sonny?" came her whispered query as she blinked away the remnants of her latest nightmare. _

"_Yea," he smiled softly as her features calmed. "I'm here. You're safe." The fragile soft hand laced within his own tightened quickly as the word 'safe' trailed from his lips. Noticing the tension the word created, he let his drive to protect and care for the women before him power his entire existence. _

"_You're safe Skye," he spoke more firmly, staring directly into the depths of her gaze. "I won't let anyone hurt you ever again."_

"_You won't leave?"_

"_I'm not going anywhere."_

* * *

Jason was frantic. With confusion and horror he watched as Sonny's eyes rolled back before he slumped forward in his seat in Dr. Greene's office. Calling out his friend's name in worry, he lunged forward and caught Sonny before he could crash to the hard tiles of the office.

* * *

"_She doesn't want to see you Jax," Sonny spoke with venom, blocking the door to Skye's room with his strong form. "Can't you understand that?"_

"_You don't speak for her Corinthos!" the blonde man shouted back drawing the attention of the surrounding nurses. "You are not her protector!"_

"_No Jax," he began harshly, leaning closer to the Australian. "**YOU** aren't her protector."_

"_Don't use her like this just to get to me, Sonny!" Jax proclaimed, his voice rising with the anger and betrayal he suddenly felt. "You despise her," he accused, "I'm not buying this feign attachment for Skye you're putting on for everyone. Whatever you've told or promised her is a veil of lies," he spat, anger turning his features crimson with fury. "You're still the man that has wished her dead. The man who tried to murder her own brother, and you're still the man that just last week had her at the top of your list of enemies." Jax's tirade ended with a single push of Sonny's chest as he tried to step past him into Skye's room._

_Unfazed by the blonde's words, Sonny was a statue as Jax tried to force his way past him. With a firm hand on his shoulder, he halted Jax's movements._

"_This veil of lies you're talking about," Sonny began, remarkably calm. "They're kind of like the ones you must have spoken when you said you're vows to Skye, right?" he ended with a shove of his own, pushing Jax away from the room. "She promised her love, devotion, and trust but all you gave in return was the image of your back as you ran to Brenda's arms."_

"_You know nothing about us Sonny!" Jax's enraged shrill echoed over the passerby's. "Skye was my wife and my friend. That's more than she could and will ever be to you! She needs care from someone she knows and trust, not from a man whose wished her dead."_

"_What Skye needs is for you to stop making this about what you want," Sonny countered. "Skye is the one laying in the hospital bed, let her decide who she wants to help her!" _

"_I could," he voiced. "If it was anyone but you, Sonny."_

"_Well, it is me Jax," he spoke with fire. "It was me who found her and carried her the miles to this hospital. It was me she trusted to stay beside her through all of this. I am the one that wakes her when her nightmares come each night. I wipe her tears and hold her hand when she cries," Sonny hissed. "You're right, I did once see Skye as an enemy. I plotted against her and hated everything I saw in her. I was blind and stupid, Jax, to let my hate for AJ cloud the person Skye is. All she did was love a brother that fed her the same lies of love and trust that you did. You both used her and tried to change who she was." Jax was silent as the Sonny's words imprisoned him with self-loathing. _

"_No one is perfect, Jax. The white knights armor you wear has a few flaws of its own, and still you build this mold of perfection the women in your life have to fill in order to be with you. Well, you **are** blind and stupid Jax. You see her faults as imperfections and her love as dispensable as the gold band that's been removed from your finger._

_"I'm no where near perfect Jax, but perfect isn't what she needs. Skye needs someone who doesn't give a damn about the lies she has told or the wrongs she has committed. She was able to look past my faults long enough to let me in. She trusts me to care for her Jax. I'm the only one._

_"She might be broken, but I'm not here to fix her, I'm here to help her heal. If you care for her the way you say you do, then back off and give her what she wants."_

* * *

"Sonny?" Jason spoke worriedly, gently shaking his friend's shoulders. "Damn-it Sonny,what's going on?" Starring down at the unresponsive man, he watched in confusion and uneasiness as Sonny's eyes moved rapidly beneath his tightly closed lids, veiled in unconsciousness.

* * *

"_What about Carly, Sonny?" Jason yelled, closing the penthouse door behind him with a hard crash._

"_Our marriage has been over since the night she slept with Alcazar. We pretended to be happy for Michael's sake, but how is that fair to anyone" Sonny countered. "I can't live this lie anymore."_

"_It's over with Alcazar, Sonny," Jason argued. _

"_No, Jason! There's someone else!" he shouted losing his temper. "She lies everyday to my face, she sneaks out in the middle of the night and doesn't return till morning, but I don't care Jason. I stopped caring her the moment I took her back." _

"_You're just going to throw it all away? The home you built, a wife, your children? Can you just turn your back on them?"_

"_The only one I'm turning my back on is Carly. I will never stop being a father to those boys!"_

"_This is about Skye, isn't it?" Jason accused, temper rising._

"_This has nothing to do with Skye. We are just friends," Sonny stated looking away from Jason._

"_Friends?" Jason protested. "Sonny, she can't be trusted. She is still the same person she was before that night."_

"_You haven't spent one minute with her!" he turned and shouted. "Don't stand there and tell me what kind of person she is!"_

"_She'll use you and then she'll stab you in the back!"_

"_Jason—_

"_Skye is selfish, stubborn, unreliable, dishonest—_

"_Jason—_

"_Undependable, deceitful, self-destructive—_

"_Jason!" Sonny yelled, quieting him with a firm hold on his shoulders. "She is not AJ, Jason!" he voiced strongly. "You can't keep hating her because he got to her first. Underneath everything everyone sees wrong with her, is a good person. Would I be defending her if I didn't really believe that?"_

* * *

"Dr. Greene, what's wrong with him?" Jason asked as he watched the doctor kneel beside Sonny on the ground. Waiting patiently, Jason sat quietly as the Dr. Greene examined Sonny. "He was fine and then he just fell to the ground. There was no warning," Jason added.

"Have you been present during the other two times Sonny blacked out?" Dr. Greene asked.

"No," he answered looking up from his friend. "No one was. Is that what's happening? He's remembering something?"

* * *

"_Is this your mother?" Skye asked softy, picking up the small frame from the table beside the couch. Adding the last log to the now growing fire, Sonny moved quietly to Skye's side looking ruefully towards the aged photo. _

"_Yea, that's her," Sonny finally answered, sitting down beside her._

"_She's beautiful, Sonny," Skye smiled to him. The bruises on her cheeks where hardly visible anymore, he noted while looking at her warm smile. The glow from the cabin's fireplace danced across her face, hiding the remaining traces of her attacker's brutal hand. "And you have her eyes."_

"_This was taken before I was born," he paused. "Before my stepfather." Taking the photo from Skye, he looked down at it in a moment of sad silence before returning it to its place beside them. Lost in the disturbing memories of his tainted childhood, Sonny stared out at nothing. He could almost hear his mother's cries and screams when suddenly he was pulled from his somber memory by a gentle hand wrapping around his own. Looking at it through a suddenly blurred vision, he watched a tear fall onto her pale skin and pulled away. _

_Not wanting to burden her with his misery, he stood and blinked away the few tears that had escaped. Preparing to hide his remaining memories with a familiar drink, he was stilled by a hand once again holding onto his own. Looking down at his feet in remorse, he urged his tears to stay unseen._

"_Sonny," her soft voice breathing against his face, drying the streak of wetness. "Please don't hide your pain." Her pleading and concerned voice meant the world to him in that moment. "Let me help you like you've been helping me." Slowly moving his shaking hand, Skye kissing it gently before cradling it against her cheek. He was immobile, her comforting gesture creating a storm of suppressed emotions. Closing his eyes, he felt her move closer and when her warm hand pressed against his cheek it felt only natural to lean into it._

* * *

"Here, help me get him off the ground," Dr. Greene ordered gently before he and Jason slowly helped Sonny's immobile form into the chair he had fallen from.

"What can we do? Will he wake?" Jason asked frantically.

"Just stay with him," Dr. Greene spoke as he stood and moved towards the door. "I'm going to get something to help him wake.

* * *

"_Mr. Corinthos?" Max's voice echoed through the silent penthouse. _

"_Yeah Max," he asked walking from the kitchen, a dishtowel draped over his shoulder._

"_Ms. Quartermaine is here to see you," the guard answered and hid a smile watching his boss' blushing reaction._

"_S-send her in," he spoke quickly, unknowingly straightening up and rubbing away the invisible wrinkles on his shirt. Laughing softly, Max turned away and let Skye in._

"_I'm sorry I keep coming by so unexpectedly," she smiled her apologies once Max had shut the door with his exit._

"_It's not a problem," he smiled himself. "I like it when you stop by." Watching with amusement as a small blush tinted her complexion, a larger smile grew inside. "Are you hungry? I was just about to make something for myself."_

"_I do love your cooking," she smiled remembering the meals he had cooked during their time at the cabin._

"_Then you'll stay for dinner?" _

"_I'd love to," she answered._

"_Make yourself comfortable and I'll get started," he spoke before he turned towards the kitchen._

"_Wait!" Skye voiced, anxiousness washing over her. "I-I just," she paused taking a deep breath, calming herself. "I just wanted to give you this first," she admitted, pulling a small wrapped package from her purse. "It's why I came tonight." _

_"What have you got there?" he inquired with a playful smile, taking the small gift from her shaking hands. "A present?"_

_"A thank you," she smiled nervously, looking down at her feet briefly. "For taking such good care of me." _

"_Skye—," he began to protest but was interrupted._

"_Please let me say this." Taking another calming breath, her eyes locked with his before she began. "You've done so much for me. You saved me that night, Sonny. Then you stayed with me and protected me. You've kept me sane, really." she smiled teasing herself._

"_Skye, you don't have to do this," he spoke softly, stepping closer._

"_But I do," she protested. "Because you don't see how much you've done for me."_

"_Anyone would have helped you that night, Skye. Don't paint me to be a hero, I'm far from one."_

"_Sonny, if I've painted an image of you, it's the one I see. Anyone might have helped me that night but would they have stayed with me after they got me to General Hospital?" she asked. "Sonny, you stayed by my side through everything. Through the anger, the pain, the tears, and the nightmares, you where there for it all._

"_When it all became too much, you took me to the cabin and kept me hidden from the world," she spoke softly, reaching out slowly and taking his hand in her own. "And it was exactly what I needed. I will cherish the weeks we spent there. You never forced me to talk or to try to remember any of it. You never pressured me once," a single tear fell as Skye tried her best to convey what she was feeling into words. _

"_Never in a million years did I image this could happen but it did, you've became a friend. I never want to loose that, Sonny." She cried softly._

"_You won't, you never will," he whispered as he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her form. Skye's own arms quickly found their way around him and she held onto him tightly. They stood for a long moment just embracing the other, silently admitting what feelings they where beginning to feel for the other._

"_Open it," her voice broke the long silence, as she looked up to him from his chest._

"_Huh," he questioned, momentarily forgetting the reason she had stopped by in the first place until he remembered the small box he still held. Slowly moving from each other's embrace, he blinked at the sudden lack of her warm body against his own._

_Pulling away the neatly tied bow, he glanced up at the red head once more before lifting the lid of the box. Brushing aside a sheet of tissue paper, a sudden gasped escaped his throat as he discovered the box's contents. The gold cross that had once been worn by his mother smiled back at him with its newly polished surface and gold chain. _

_Holding his breath, his trembling fingers reach towards the cross and turn it over. Quickly his hand covered his mouth, dulling his sudden cry and heavy breathing. Engraved in the center are the initials "AC", Adele Corinthos, his mother._

"_At the cabin you spoke of mother so often," Skye's voice broke through the silence. "I could hear how much she meant to you and how much loosing her effected you, Sonny. You spoke of her beauty, her gentleness, and her heart. Your memories of her painted a similar picture as to one I see of you._

"_You are an amazing person, Sonny. Filled with the same gentleness and heart you say your mother had. You looked past my exterior and many, many faults and found the person I have always wished to be. I am not a victim, because of you I am a survivor. You helped me survive myself, and to help me paint my own picture. For the first time I like the person I am becoming and I thank you for that, because it was your beauty, gentleness, and heart that helped me heal. You are your mother's son, and I hope the cross will remind you of that every time you look at it. You are a hero, my hero." _

_Wordlessly, Sonny let her take the box from his hands and with a tear-filled gaze he watched her set the box aside. Sliding her hands around his neck, she clasped the gold chain and once the cross fell in place against his chest, her fingers found the warm streaks of tears littering his face. Brushing them aside, Skye stood on the tips of her toes and placed a warm kiss to Sonny's forehead. _

_Before she could step away he moved quickly, cradling her face in his palms and locking her gaze with his own intense one. Unable to express what he felt in words, he let his actions speak volumes and lowered his lips to her own. _

* * *

Blinking away the remains of darkness, Sonny slowly registered bright overhead lights and the frantic voice of his best friend. The final remains of unconsciousness faded away as he sat up slowly and recognized his surroundings as Dr. Greene's office.

"Are you alright, Sonny?" Jason asked, kneeling before him.

"I—I'm fine," he spoke looking slightly dazed.

"You scared the shit out of me Sonny," Jason admitted. "What happened to you? One second we where talking and then you where just gone. Sonny?" Jason questioned as he watched him bolt from his chair and quickly exit Dr. Greene's office without a word or hesitation.

"Sonny!" Jason called, following him towards the elevators. "What are you doing?"

"She's there, I know she is."

"Who? What are you talking about, Sonny?"

"Skye's at the cabin, Jason," he spoke while pressing the elevator buttons repeatedly.

"You remember the cabin?" Jason asked with amazement.

"Jason," he began as turned to his friend with a soft smile of realization. "I remember everything."

* * *

Time would never erase the hatred that coursed through her veins. The time she wasted loving, obeying, forgiving, and defending a husband who would never give his full trust or self would never be recovered. But she no longer needed, wished, or even wanted to recover or salvage anything with her ex-husband. Oh, no. Carly wanted something so much more appealing.

Revenge.

That had been the motive for her affair with Ric, brother to the man who had disposed of the life she built. Ric's hate for Sonny was just as powerful as her own. Who better to have on your side, right?

But over time her affair with Ric developed into the connection she had always dreamed to have with Sonny. He listened, trusted, cared, loved, and believed in her. He became her world, a world that was tragically torn from her without forewarning.

Was it fair that she again had nothing, while Sonny, the cause of her pain, still had everything? No broken heart, empty soul, lonely bed, or torturing fate?

She would have died for Ric.

She would have killed for him.

On this night, armed with her lover's blade and her enemy's own gun, she will kill for him. The car slowed to a stop at the site of the cabin's lights through the trees and she smiled a devilish grin.

For Ric's memory and for their revenge she would take what Sonny took from her.

Everything.

TBC


	19. From the Dark

Beyond Recollection – _A Sonny Skye FanFiction_

Chapter Nineteen – _From the Dark_

AN: This chapter is for Jacinda, who got my butt out of my writer's block and rolling again!

* * *

"I vote we keep them up for another week," Courtney voiced as she emerged from the kitchen with two steaming cups of herbal tea. 

"Fine with me," Skye declared, taking a cup from her friend and returning her gaze to the glowing Christmas tree. "Taking down Christmas decorations always makes me so depressed."

"Same here," the blonde quietly agreed, brushing her hand against a shimmering ornament. "I don't care that it's almost a week after New Years, a few more days won't hurt anything," she said with smile and a soft laugh.

"On the downside," Skye began as she lowered herself onto the fluffy couch. "There go our plans for tonight."

"Hmm," Courtney frowned, tapping her free hand to her chin in mock thought. After a playful moment she finally replied, "Well, I vote for a little Mel Gibson."

"I should have known," Skye groaned, rolling her eyes and throwing her hand in the air.

"Yes you should have," Courtney replied. "I'm the guest and you must humor me," she smiled wickedly walking towards the TV cabinet and unhinging the doors.

"Hey! Not for four nights in a row," Skye protested. "I'm all Mel Gibsoned out." Hiding her smile from Courtney's expression of shock in her mug, Skye leaned further into the soft warm cushions of the over stuffed couch. "How about we watch my favorite leading man tonight?"

"And he is not Mel? Skye, I'm offended," Courtney forged a hurt expression. "Just who is this man you are choosing over Mel?"

"Cary Grant," she announced proudly before pointing to the dvds below the television. "And I want to watch _An Affair to Remember_."

"You just like that movie because the leading lady is a red head," Courtney accused jokingly.

"No," Skye laughed warmly. "That's not the reason, only an added bonus."

"Fine," she admitted defeat. "It is your house," she stated before heading towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" Skye asked, watching the blonde put on her heavy winter coat and gloves. "Oh, if you're going to be like we can watch Mel Gibson."

"I'm just getting more firewood," Courtney laughed with a smile. "The snow is coming down a little harder now and I better get it before we can't even get out the door."

"I'll make some popcorn while you're freezing your butt off then," she teased, rising slowly due to her rounded belly.

"Haha," Courtney stated sarcastically. "Just for that we are watching _Lethal Weapon_!"

* * *

"Jason," Sonny spoke as he turned to his friend with a soft smile of realization. "I remember everything." 

"Every thing?" Jason asked with an expression of pure shock.

"Everything."

"Are you are Sonny?" he asked in a whisper of amazement. Eyes wide with hope Jason step closer to his friend, praying for confirmation.

"Jason," Sonny began with a wide smile as he stepped into the opening doors of the elevator. "How can I prove it to you? Here, ask me anything," he added as Jason followed him in to the elevator.

"Where did Courtney and I get married?"

"Ireland," Sonny replied without a second thought as the doors to the elevator slid shut. "It was sunset and raining, but it was a beautiful ceremony," Sonny spoke with a warm expression towards his friend. "And I'm so happy that you two found each other. I couldn't ask for a better husband for my baby sister," he paused. "I'm just so sorry for the way I treated yours."

Lowering his eyes, Sonny's gaze drifted over his hand and landed on his bare ring finger. "We should have been married by now," he whispered with torment.

"Sonny," Jason spoke with a firm and assertive voice. "You love my sister. I know this, Courtney knows this, all of Port Charles knows this, but especially Skye knows this. I know that you never wanted to hurt her. You let her go because you thought it was better for her. She has never stopped loving you and she never will. These past three months have been a nightmare for everyone, but you woke up. Its over now."

"But will she take me back Jason?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

"You know she doesn't deserve me."

"Sonny, you're trustworthy, loyal, passionate, unforgiving, some times extremely stubborn, and you have a horrible temper..."

"This is really helping Jason," Sonny noted sarcastically.

"You didn't let me finish. No one is perfect, Sonny, and you have to except that. But you're my best friend and I couldn't ask for a better husband for my older sister."

"You're irreplaceable Jason," he said softly, showing his gratitude in his eyes and smile.

"And don't you forget it," he teased back as he reached for his ringing cell phone. "Yea," he answered, following Sonny into the parking garage of General Hospital.

"To the cabin Max," Sonny greeted his trusted guard as they reached the waiting black limousine.

Max's eyes lit up and a smile graced his lips before he replied, "Yes sir. With my driving we can be there in twenty. My mother always told me I had a lead foot."

"I wouldn't want you to get caught speeding," Sonny teased, his mood officially lighter. "I know how never brake the law."

"Never sir," Max shook his head, holding back a grin. Sonny laughed out loud and began to lower himself into the limousine, when Jason rushed over, cell phone still gripped in his hand.

"We have a big problem Sonny," he stated with a troubled expression.

"What? What is it?" he asked, stepping out of the limousine with a worried expression of his own.

"Its Carly."

"What about her?"

"She has your gun Sonny."

"What?" He shouted. "How did she find it and why does she need it Jason?"

"I don't know, but Sonny," he paused. "She has the directions to the cabin."

"What?" he gasped, panic flooding his features as his body went ridged with fear. "How Jason?"

"Apparently Jeff ran a trace for you, on some phone number," he paused trying to make sense of it all. "I don't know, but it was the cabin's address. When did Skye call you?"

"She didn't," he answered. "I asked for that race the night..."

"It was Skye?" Jason asked as he watched the emotions play across Sonny's face.

"I didn't know Jason," he gasped. "She never spoke and...and then Carly hung up the phone. I didn't know it was her!" He shouted with anger towards himself, slamming his fist into the car door. "Damn-it! Why didn't I know!"

"Its not you fault, Sonny." Jason assured directing Sonny back towards the limousine. "We have to get up there. I don't like this. I don't like this at all."

* * *

Crouching behind a snow covered bush; Carly cursed herself for not finding a better hiding spot. For the younger blonde would quickly spot her on her walk to the small stone shed that housed the dry firewood. The full moon was now brightly lit, exposing her awkward hidden form and ready to ruin any plans she had.

But with a hand of luck in her favor, Carly watched as Courtney turned back inside telling something to the cabin's other occupant. She took her chance without a second's delay, quickly rushing to the shrouded side of the stone shed.

Peering around the side of the tiny building, she frowned as Courtney laughed at something and finally turned towards the shed. Shutting the door behind her, Carly watched as Courtney slowly padded through the fresh inches of snow.

Holding her breath, she ducked out of view and relied on the crunching of Courtney's footsteps for her whereabouts. Slowly and silently her gloved hand reached into her pocket and pulled out the two weapons she was armed with. The gun of the man who ruined her life, and the knife of the man who had been her life.

She had big plans for Ric's knife and the detestable auburn waiting inside the cabin, but first she had to deal with the only object that stood in her way. Yes, Courtney had once been considered a friend in Carly's view. But a true friend would never have taken Sonny's side.

It's former friends like that, in which she had no use for.

In Carly's view Courtney was a very bad friend.

TBC


	20. End of a Dream Part I

Beyond Recollection _A Sonny Skye FanFiction_

Chapter Twenty _The End of a Dream (Part I)_

* * *

AN: I started a Sonny and Skye C2 community...tell me if I missed any stories. I hope I didn't! And unfortunately we can't put fics with an 'R' rating in C2 communities, so if you have a 'R' fic and you want it in the community my suggestion would be to lower the rating and simply post the 'R' chapters in the 'R' section. I know it sucks right. Ok, now on to the story… _

* * *

_"Owe!" Skye exclaimed, pulling the steaming bag of popcorn from the microwave and turning to run her hand under the faucet. "This is why mommy doesn't come in this room little one," she spoke to her belly with a sad laugh. "Nothing ever comes out right." 

With an aggravated sigh, she pored the snack into a large glass bowl, growling at all the burnt pieces of popcorn. "Maybe if we're lucky aunt Courtney will have pity on mommy and make a new bag," Skye laughed, picking up the glass bowl and heading towards the living room at the sound of the front door closing shut.

"Well its about time," Skye called into the next room, pausing to switch off the kitchen light before entering the living room. "I could have got the firewood faster than that!" she teased looking up from her culinary debacle.

The glass bowl she held fell to the floor with a crash of shattering glass, spilling shards of the bowl and snack across the floor. A terrified gasp rushed from her lips as she clutched to the afghan draped around her shoulders.

"Courtney," she whimpered with wide eyes, fear for her friend swelling her chest.

"What? No 'hello'?" Carly asked wickedly. "And here I thought you had some manors. Tsk, tsk Skye," she taunted, waving the gun she held on Courtney as she shook her head in jesting discontent. "Courtney here had the same problem," Carly stated shoving the blonde to the ground roughly. "She tried to fight back!"

"Can you blame me you deranged bitc—

"Now, now Courtney," Carly growled with an unstable expression. "I thought you learned your lesson?" she asked, gesturing to the bleeding mark on Courtney's temple with the tip of Sonny's gun. "Guess I'll just have to incapacitate you," Carly stated with a grin as she reached into the pocket of her trousers. "Wouldn't want you pulling any of that kick boxing shit on me." Turning towards Skye she barked, "Front and center Skye!"

Dangling the pair of police handcuffs she had just retrieved from her pocket, she smiled. "Aren't these great," she stated playfully. "Found them going through Ric's things. Unfortunately for you Courtney, I didn't bring the key. Oops!" Tossing them to the cautiously approaching red head she continued, "Cuff her to the banister."

"Why are you doing this, Carly?" Skye questioned, catching the metal cuffs awkwardly, but managing to keep the afghan around her, hiding the evidence of her pregnancy.

"First things first Skye," Carly stated, waving her gun for emphasis. "Cuff – her – to – the – banister!"

Approaching Courtney Skye looked at her with a worried expression as she locked her friend's wrists around the stair banister. "Are you ok?" Skye whispered, looking at the blood trickling down Courtney's pale skin.

"Yea, I'm fine," she replied quietly, tugging her wrists against their binds. "She hit me with her gun as I was getting the firewood. Skye don't let her—

"Secrets, secrets are no fun," Carly voiced, cutting Courtney's statement off. "Stand over there Skye," she ordered gesturing to a space a good distance away from the stairs. "Can't have you to conspiring against me."

"What do you want Carly?" Skye asked.

"What I want is to ruin your life," she shouted, "But most importantly, Sonny's!"

"Why? You got what you wanted," Skye pleaded. "He's yours. I'm out of the picture."

"That's not what I wanted Skye," Carly expressed with annoyance. "That was just all part of my plan."

"Plan? Plan for what? Did you hurt Sonny?" she accused, panic thudding in her chest.

"Now you see Skye," Carly began. "That's where you come in." At Skye's fearful expression, Carly howled with deranged laughter. "I want to take from Sonny what was taken from me. I loved Ric. Sonny loves you—

"But Sonny can't even remember loving her!" Courtney interjected, scared for Skye's safety.

"That's what makes it so brilliant, don't you see?" Carly questioned with a gleam of mania. "He **is** going to remember, and with each memory that comes back to him Skye's death will hit him even harder! What more could I ask for? Sonny's pain will never end."

"You can't—

"But I can," Carly replied reaching into her coat pocket. "And I will. With this," she finished pulling Ric's knife into their view. "Remember this Skye? Remember what he did to you with this?" she asked slowly, dragging the blade down the valley of her breast.

"You're sick!" Courtney shouted as she looked on, struggling against the handcuffs.

"You do remember," Carly grinned, watching Skye pale and tremble as her widening eyes locked with the blade of the knife. "Open your shirt," she ordered taking a step closer. "I want to see the scars you hide on your filthy body."

"No," Skye moaned, clutching the afghan closer.

"Now!" Carly shouted, ending the distance between the Skye in three quick strides. Ripping the afghan from her arms, she threw it to the ground. "I said now! Or I'll fu…oh my g-d!" she grinned sadistically, looking down at Skye's visible belly. "He got you pregnant," she laughed.

"Stop," Skye whimpered protectively covering her stomach.

"And he doesn't even know," Carly laughed even harder. "Poor Sonny," she teased. "Another child lost. How ever will he get through this?"

"No!" Skye shouted, pushing Carly away. "You will not hurt my baby!"

Pushing the end of the gun into Skye's chin, Carly leaned in and growled to the shaking woman before her, "It would do you good to remember that I am the one with Sonny's gun pointed to your head…and Ric's knife inches away from your unborn baby."

Skye's gaze immediately fell lower, her tears falling with the sight of the knife so close to her stomach.

"How deep do you think I need to cut," Carly began as she inched the knife closer, tracing its tip in circles around Skye's bellybutton. "Before I get the little bastard?"

"Put the gun down Carly!" Jason's sudden voice boomed from behind them.

Without a seconds hesitation Carly quickly positioned herself behind Skye and her back to the kitchen. Ducking behind the red head, she moved the knife to Skye's throat and pointed the gun towards the two men standing in the front doorway.

"No Jason," she growled pressing the knife harder against Skye's throat, making a small cut, "You put your gun down. You two Sonny!" Her orders echoed out into the darkness behind them as she took a step away from the two, pulling Skye with her. "Kick them over here and shut the door!"

"Sonny…"

"Skye," he replied with a shaky breath. "It's going to be ok, I promise."

"Very touching Sonny, but unfortunately you have no say in the matter!" Carly bellowed, clutching Skye closer.

"Let her go Carly," Jason ordered firmly.

"What if I don't want to Jase? Are you going to beg?"

"It's me you want!" Sonny shouted, emotion flooding his gaze. "Leave her out of this!"

"No," she smiled calmly. "And don't you dare raise your voice at me again, or I'll take from you what you don't even realize you have."

"What?" Sonny voiced, becoming angrier as Carly began to laugh.

"Notice anything different about your lady love?" she asked as she trailed Ric's knife from Skye's neck to her belly, a small line of crimson following the blade. His eyes followed the moving blade lower and as Carly began to circle Skye's belly he understood what she had meant.

A shuddered breath passed his lips as a tear fell to his chest. "Skye?" he questioned looking into her tearful gaze.

"I'm so sorry," was all Skye could manage as she cried helplessly in Carly's arms.

"Hear that Sonny? She's sorry," Carly stated bringing the knife back to Skye's bleeding neck. "Under normal circumstances I know you could **never** forgive her for such deception, but in this case you should at least give her that," a pause. "Considering she won't be living much longer."

"No!" Sonny pleaded and took a step forward. "Please don't kill her. Don't take them from me."

"Its only fare Sonny," Carly growled. "You took everything from me!"

Courtney watched the scene feet away from her without taking a breath. Her mind raced with the outcomes that could and would possibly follow this disastrous exchange. Sharing a fearful look with her husband from her position next to the banister, she brought her gaze back to scene to her left just in time to see Max slowly sneak in from the kitchen.

All was silent and still, and time slowed as the fearless guard quickly latched onto Carly's arms, pushing them up and away from Skye. Falling to her knees with surprise and fear, Skye looked on with the others as Carly screamed and kicked at the struggling guard.

Watching Skye crawl a safe distance away from the two, Courtney let out her nervous breath, realizing it was almost over.

But Carly was fighting back.

Freeing the hand that grasped onto Ric's knife; Max was unable to stop her as she stabbed it into his chest. Stumbling back he lost his grip on the gun and watched her fire it once, the bullet's impact sending him crashing to the ground of shattered glass and blackened popcorn.

Twisting to face the others, Carly shot aimlessly as Jason quickly shoved her to the ground. Her head colliding with the ground, knocking her into unconsciousness.

With a disgusted expression he kicked the gun from her limp hand as he slowly rose.

"It's over," he started to say as he turned to face the others, but the words died in his chest as his eyes filled with confusion. Courtney was sobbing hysterically, rocking back and forth with her head bent. He looked to her with worry and thinking that she might be hurt, he raced forward.

As he rounded the large beige sofa, Jason found the cause of his wives hysteric cries.

Kneeled on the ground Sonny rocked, clutching Skye's limp form between his legs. Stepping closer, Jason lowered himself beside the two and uttered a silent cry at the sight of the two bullet wounds carved into his sister's back. Reaching forward he pressed his fingers to Skye's throat and exchanged a tearful look with his best friend when he was unable to find her pulse.

"No," Sonny whimpered, watching Jason begin to cry softly. "No, no, no, no. NO!" He shouted pulling Skye's blood stained and lifeless body into his lap. "She's not gone! She's not gone Jason!"

"Sonny…

"NO!" he pushed Jason away as he tried to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "She's not gone!" he voiced through tears before lowering his gaze to Skye. "Skye," he whispered to her silent form, brushing her cheek with his hand. "Baby, show them you're not gone. Wake up for me. Wake up for me, Skye." Sonny begged as his tears began to litter her paled cheeks and closed lids.

Roughly brushing away his tears, Sonny pulled Skye closer and spoke more powerfully, "Skye. Open your eyes," he begged, listening as his sister's cries became louder. "Please Skye. Please don't leave me."

Sobbing now, he wrapped his shaking arms around Skye, moving so he cradled her back to his chest. Looking down at the blood staining his shirt and pants, Sonny moaned and trailed his hands over Skye's rounded belly. "Our baby," he whispered before turning his head and placing a soft kiss on her temple.

"I remember Skye," Sonny whispered next to her ear. "I remembered…and I never got the chance to tell you," he spoke, rocking her softly. "I didn't get to tell you how much I love you, Skye. Or how much I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you," he paused to brush a strand of auburn from her cheek. "I don't want to do this without you. Please don't leave me."

Looking up towards the ceiling, Sonny's shouts echoed through the silent cabin, "Don't take them from me! Haven't you taken enough? Don't take them!"

A quiet sorrow fell over the small cabin as heartbroken and mournful tears continued to silently fall. The large mantle clock above the fireplace chimed twelve as the night ended and a new dawn was born.


	21. End of a Dream Part II

Beyond Recollection _A Sonny Skye FanFiction_

Chapter Twenty _The End of a Dream (Part II)_

* * *

**Six weeks later**

"No visitors tonight Tony," Sonny spoke softly as he walked past the guard into his darkened penthouse.

"Yes sir," he replied, looking ruefully towards his boss before gently pulling the door shut, enveloping Sonny in complete darkness and isolation.

He stood silently for a moment he looked across the dark penthouse; the ache in his chest telling him what was missing. Who was missing. Then wordlessly he began his nightly ritual.

It never changed. He spent his days in the small cemetery behind his church standing beside two headstones. One belonging to the woman he never had the chance to marry, and the other belonging to the daughter he never got the chance to meet. Hours spent sometimes in silence, sometimes whispering to the snow covered ground, and sometimes he spent those hours crying softly.

Nights where spent alone in the silence of his lonely penthouse. The late hours spent sometimes in silence, others it violent rages, but most nights he continued where he left off and cried softly into the emptiness. However he spent these last hours, there was always a drink in his hand. Drinking had become Sonny's only companion since the night of the funerals.

It was the only thing that could never be taken from him.

He was drowning in this life.

If one could even call what he had left a life. No, it was now more of shadow. A shadow left to linger in darkness and the absence of his light. Of his love.

This night played forward in the same manor as the others had. Slowly moving away from his stance by the front door, Sonny approached his desk. Staring into the glass that hung behind it, he watched his own reflection as if the person he saw was a stranger.

He removed his scarf and coat, draping them aimlessly over the desk before brushing the few remaining snowflakes from his dark beard. Trailing his eyes from his own sullen gaze, he noticed the dark circles underneath his eyes. His face and body was much thinner due to his malnourishment, and his suit fell loosely from his shoulders.

Unbuttoning the top of his shirt, Sonny reached beneath the fabric and gently pulled out the chain he would never remove. Letting it fall to his chest he watched the cross and engagement ring settle against the dark fabric of his shirt.

A soft, sad smile lingered on his lips for just a second as he remembered her giving him the cross he watched in the reflection. As quickly as it came, the moment was over and Sonny quickly pulled himself away from the mirror and the lingering memory.

Standing in front of the bar now, he immediately pored until the dark liquid reached the rim of the glass and spilled over onto the marble surface. Unfazed by the mess Sonny pulled the glass to his lips and turned towards the leather sofa, desiring to black out before the hour was through. Before a step was taken though, he quickly turned back to the bar and took with him the large bottle he had poured his glass from.

Falling into the dark leather, Sonny immediately downed the contents of the glass in his left hand before refilling it with the bottle in his right. Letting his head crash against the back of the couch he sat and drank, until the blackness he has hoped for came and he passed out.

* * *

"Sonny?" Jason's voice pulled him from the darkness of his sleep.

"Jason," he grunted with hostility. "Just leave me alone." Squeezing his lids shut, he prayed to fall quickly back into the dream he had been having. It was of Skye and if he tried hard enough he wouldn't loose the images dancing across his mind.

"Sonny," Jason began. "You have to get up."

"Damn-it Jason!" Sonny yelled, flashing an angry gaze up towards his friend. Anger was quickly replaced with confusion as he took in Jason's formal appearance. "Why are you in a suit?" he questioned.

"Why aren't you?" Jason shot back, pulling Sonny to his feet. "We are already late, Sonny."

"Late?" Sonny stated looking towards Jason with even more confusion. "Late for what?"

"For Luke's opening," Jason replied.

"Opening of what?"

"His casino," Jason answered looking at Sonny with a confused expression of his own. "He's been telling us about it for weeks. Remember? The Haunted Star?"

"What?" Sonny questioned. "He opened that thing years ago, Jason."

"What are you talking about Sonny? The opening's tonight," he said.

"Jason, you know he opened that damn casino three years ago with Skye. Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what Sonny? I have no idea what you are talking about. Tonight is the opening of Luke and Skye's casino."

"Why are you doing this Jason?" Sonny asked as anger and grief overcame his emotions.

"What?"

"Skye's dead! You know this! And yet here you are playing like the last couple of years never even existed!" Sonny shouted angrily. "Was this Dr. Greene's idea? Did he think it would actually help?"

"Sonny!" Jason yelled back. "What the hell are you talking about? Who is Dr. Greene?"

"The therapists from the Hospital. The one I took Skye to."

"When did you take Skye to a therapist? What the hell is going on with you? Are you drunk? Did you hit your head?"

"I didn't hit my head. I just wish you would explain to me what is going on here and why you don't know what I'm talking about. Where's Courtney? She knows."

"I don't know where Courtney is Sonny. I don't keep tabs on her anymore, especially since the divorce was finalized."

"Divorce? When did you get divorced?" Sonny asked puzzled. "What the hell is going on?"

"I think I need to take you to General Hospital, Sonny."

"I don't need to go to the hospital!" Sonny replied angrily, pushing past Jason and walking towards the front door. "Tony," he called for the guard as he came to stand beside his desk.

"Boss?" Max questioned, opening the door and stepping inside.

"Max? W…what? How? You where…I saw it," Sonny rambled starring at his very much alive guard. "What the hell is going on," he thought out loud as he stumbled back into his desk, the motion sending a pile of papers to the ground.

"I'll get those boss," Max spoke before quickly bending down and cleaning up the mess. "Here sir, you might need this for tonight," he stated handing Sonny his invitation to the Haunted Star's opening. Starring down at it, Sonny read over the date that he had first attended the opening of the casino.

"A…and this is today's date?" he asked both men, pointing to the print on the invitation.

"Yea," Jason answered with a nod.

"And Carly never shot you?" he questioned Max.

"Uh, no."

"Then it was a dream?" Sonny asked himself. "It all was a dream."

"I guess," Jason answered before looking towards Max and exchanging looks of confusion.

"I guess it was a really vivid dream, sir," Max added.

"Then…it never…she's not dead! Skye's not dead?" he asked turning to Jason. "She's still alive?"

"Yes, and at the opening that we are extremely late for."

"Oh my g-d," Sonny exclaimed rushing through the door, a smile plastered to his lips.

* * *

"Luke!" Sonny shouted, pushing through a chatting couple and making his way across the crowded casino.

"Hey, there Corinthos! You came! Nice digs I got for myself, huh?" Luke laughed, pouring a drink and grinning widely. "Blaze sure knows how to throw a party, huh?"

"Is she here now? Have you seen her? Is she with someone? Where is she?" Sonny rushed out in one breath as Jason rushed through the crowd, catching up to him.

"Wow there partner! Who are you looking for?" he asked laughing at his friend's desperation. "Which lady has gotten you this worked up? Certainly this can't be over my spawn of a niece? I thought you two where on your way to divorce land…again."

"Skye! Where is she? I need to find her," he asked while his eyes continued to scan over the groups of people.

"Skye?" Luke questioned before his defense for the red head turned on. "Now wait a second, what do you want with Skye? And I've got to be honest Sonny, I know you two have your differences but I consider her a good friend now. I can't let you start fighting with her and ruining her big night. So, whatever you have to say to red, you'll have to say to me first."

"I'm not going to fight with her Luke! I love her!" Sonny declared.

"Well in that case," he through back his shot and grinned, pointing to the doors beside the bar. "She's out on the deck taking a breather."

Sonny ran pass him and before Luke turned to follow he spoke quickly to Jason, "Am I drunk or did he just say he loved Skye?"

"He did say it, but I think you are drunk Luke," Jason answered honestly.

"Well alright! Just so long as I'm clear on things."

* * *

Skye leaned against the cool railing, letting the final glow of the setting sun warm her bare arms and neck. The dark waters bouncing against the large ship soothed away the tension that had been crippling her the past weeks. She smiled at the success of the Haunted Stars' opening. Not even nightfall and the ship was already packed with eager gamblers and socialites.

"Skye!" Sonny's voiced echoed across the small deck as he stepped out of the casino.

"I knew this moment wouldn't last," she mumbled to herself, building the strength to face the mob boss. "What do you want, Sonny?" she asked with a hint of hostility in her voice as she finally turned to face him, the black dress she wore brushing his shoes as he appeared suddenly only inches away from her face.

"Are you insane?" she accused as one of his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her body against his own.

"I'm not insane Skye," Sonny spoke gently, his free hand brushing the strands of loose hair from her face. "I'm in love." His lips descended on her own before she was able to register what he had said. Her hands frantically pushed at his chest and shoulders, but Sonny's hold did not falter.

Against her own will, her protest began to subside as the effects of his kiss wrapped her in a daze. With what little protest she had left, she forced her lungs to try and voice her objection, but as she opened her mouth to scream and shout, Skye nearly fainted when his tongue moved against her own.

"So you're saying he just woke up all crazy and suddenly, POOF! I'm in love with Skye," Luke questioned Jason as they approached the deck.

"Strange, right?"

"I'll say," Luke spoke before both men froze, mouths gapping at the pair before them. "Well I'll be damned, looks like he got through to her."

"Apparently not," Jason stated after Skye's knee abruptly collided between Sonny's legs.

"You pig!" She yelled. Sonny grunted and fell against the rail of the deck, his head slumping forward onto Skye's shoulder.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because you attacked me!" She squealed pushing his head off her shoulder while prying his arm from her waist. "Will you get off me?" she fully shouted before she broke free. Though before she could get far, Sonny quickly recovered and caught her hand in his own.

"Don't leave, Skye," he spoke to the memories from his dream.

"What is wrong with you? What game are you playing?" she accused as he moved towards her, not letting go of the hand he held in his own.

"I'm not playing any games Skye," he stated looking her in the eyes, trying to will her to believe him.

"You've always hated me and…and now…now you're kissing me!" Skye shouted with confusion. "Are you drunk? Have you been hit over the head?…Repeatedly?" With Luke's sudden outburst of laughter she turned to the two standing in the doorframe. "This isn't funny, Luke! Get this criminal off of me!"

"Darling, I'd loved to help you out, but I haven't laughed this hard since Natasha was caught cross dressing," he spoke wiping tears away from his eyes.

"Well, I'm glad this is so amusing to you Luke! And you!" she shouted towards Jason. "You're supposed to hate me just as much as Sonny does! Why are you letting him act like this?"

"Sonny, what **are** you doing?" Jason asked stepping forward. "You can't just suddenly be in love with Skye?"

"Jason, you can't understand this. Just let me talk with her," he pleaded to his friend.

"No! Don't you leave me!

"Jason, please."

"Hey!" she called to his retreating back after Jason nodded an agonizing but loyal 'yes' to Sonny and backed into the casino, unable to understand his friends sudden emotions.

"You two play nice," Luke teased as he quickly closed the door once he entered the ship, swaying more than the boat itself.

"Luke!" Skye called after him. "I can't believe they left me here with you!" she shouted, once again trying to pull her hand free.

"Please just listen to me, Skye," Sonny pleaded pulling both of her hands to his chest. "I can't loose you again."

"You never had me to loose, Sonny Corinthos," she spoke firmly, trying to force some sense into him.

"But I did, Skye," he spoke as his head fell with the weight of the sudden visions of her lifeless and pregnant body.

"What is going on, Sonny?" she whispered when a tear fell to her chest as he pulled her close and lowered his forehead to her shoulder. Overcome with the image of her dead in his arms, he painfully grasped to the woman in his arms.

"I can't explain it or even why I dreamed it," he began as he ran his hands down her bare arms, against her cheeks, anywhere he could touch her amiably. "But you were mine, you might not remember it, it might not have been real, but it felt real for me…It still does. I fell in love with you in a dream," he paused, framing her face in his palms. "And I lost you in that same dream. I don't want to feel that emptiness in my chest, Skye. I want you to love me, I want the love I dreamed to be real as we this is right now."

"Sonny," Skye began, not sure of how to continue. "It wasn't real. It was a dream. You that yourself. You don't love me, not the real me."

"Skye," he begged. "Please give me a chance."

"Sonny –

"Just give me a chance, please."

"I can't."

"Why? Why can't you try?" Sonny asked nuzzling his face to her neck. "Please try," he whispered kissing a trail of warmth from her neck to her shoulder. With no protest to his sudden invasion of her personal space, he boldly moved his fingers along the curves of her waist and side. His fingertips brushed softly, almost unnoticeable, against her breast in their journey to her bare back. As his fingers roamed the soft skin there, his lips made their way to her mouth, where he quickly consumed her.

Voices suddenly echoed from the deck above them, ending her sudden lapse in judgement.

"No, no, no," Skye pushed away from him. "I can't Sonny."

"Why, Skye? Why won't you even give this a chance?"

"Because I only know how to hate you," she voiced sternly, momentarily feeling a pang of guilt at his hurt expression. "I don't understand what you're feeling, and I can't try to. I'm sorry," she spoke before backing away from him. "Please don't follow me," she raised her hand with his step towards her. "I'm sorry, Sonny. I just can't."

TBC


	22. Waking to Reality Part I

Beyond Recollection: _A Sonny & Skye FanFiction_

Chapter Twenty-two: Waking to Reality Part I

A/N: Sadly, this is the final chapter of this fanfic. :tear: I had such a good time writing it and I truly enjoyed all of your comments and feed back. I decided to split this last chapter into two parts because I have had this 1st part written for sometime and I hate making you guys wait for updates. So here is the Part I and hopefully this block will go away so I can write the ending!

* * *

"I don't like this," Jason repeated to himself looking at the closed doors, separating them from Sonny and Skye. "I don't like this at all."

"Morgan, quit your worrying," Luke replied, ushering him towards the bar with a light shove. "They're just talking."

"I just don't get how one dream can change him so much," Jason spoke softy, taking a seat on an empty stool.

"Ya know," Luke began, pouring another glass. "He might be psychic."

"He's not psychic," Jason shook his head at the older man.

"Well," pausing to take a long sip. "He could have been."

"I think you've had too much to drink Luke."

"That might be the case," Luke smiled towards him and raised his glass. "Cheers."

"How…why did you become business partners with Skye?" Jason suddenly asked, looking serious again.

"Jason," he spoke leaning against the bar, closer to him. "She's not AJ. She has both a soul and a heart."

"Luke—."

"No, no," he interrupted shaking his hands in the air. "You just listen to what I have to say." With no further interruptions from the man beside him, Luke continued. "Now I might not have been around much when Skye was in the whole self-destructive mode, but she's told me enough that I have a pretty good understanding. And I've come to the conclusion that most of the era was due to her drinking, AJ's influence, and the rejection of her family. All of which we no longer have to worry about because she's patched things up with the Q's, AJ's flown the coupe, and she's back on the wagon."

"For now," Jason interjected. "She's weak Luke and it seems like every time a problem comes around she heads right back for the bottle."

"In the past, maybe. But why wouldn't she?" Luke asked roughly.

"What?" Jason asked, puzzled by Luke's reply.

"When all her family and so called friends continually turned their backs on her, why wouldn't she not turn to the only thing that has always been their for her. Now, I'm not giving excuses for whatever she's done in the past, I just wanted to give you some kind of a clue because I get the feeling you think she is to blame for the shit that comes into her life."

"She's done some stupid things Luke."

"And my psychotic niece Carly hasn't?"

"That's different…"

"Why is it different?" he asked crossing his arms. "Because you're Carly's friend or because she was Sonny's wife?"

Jason was silent as he thought over Luke's last statement, trying his hardest to come up with a reason to hate his adoptive sister. The only problem Jason had, was that every reason ended with her friendship and loyalty to AJ, and a tiny part of his subconscious was finally telling him that it wasn't fair to hate her because of his brothers influence.

"Jason, have you even had a descent conversation with her? Conversation not meaning when you were threatening her."

"No."

"And do you think it means something when your two favorite Q's, Lila and Emily, love and trust her?"

"Lily and Emily are good people, Luke. They couldn't hate anyone."

"Well I don't see them getting all cozy with Helena. Obviously, they have the ability to see who a person really is… and to see the good in them."

As Jason looked down at his hands, his shoulders fell slightly with the weight of Luke's assumptions.

"Buddy, you just have to give her chance," Luke declared. "You won't regret it! I promise," he spoke with a large inebriated smile.

"They've been out there for a while," Jason added casually, unsure what to say next.

"Must be going pretty good then," Luke smiled with satisfaction. Opening his mouth to add a last statement, his words where cut off by a sudden burst through the door and both men turned to see Skye hurriedly push her way through the crowd and towards the doors of the casino.

As Luke quickly rushed towards his friends, an expression of worry troubling his features, he was unaware of the same expression flashing momentarily on Jason's face.

"Skye!" Luke called catching up to her beside one of the blackjack tables. "Hold it red," he spoke, stopping her with a hand to her elbow. Turning her face him, Luke was unaware of Jason's cautiously approaching figure. "What's wrong?"

"I…I just need to go Luke," she answered looking past his shoulders and meeting Jason's eyes for a brief moment. "I need to get out of here before…"

"Skye," Sonny called out as he entered the casino. All conversations ended as all of Port Charles watched Sonny Corinthos hurriedly make his way towards Skye. "Don't leave yet," he pleaded gently, causing a sea of confused expressions to look towards the red head.

"Please don't make a scene Sonny," Skye asked, glancing to her family and friends. "Don't do this here."

"I love you Skye," Sonny confessed, moving around Luke to be closer to her.

"Don't," Skye pleaded softly, shaking her head at his approaching body.

"Please just give us a chance," he begged softly, talking her hands in his own. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Carly's form step forward, before being stopped by her lover Lorenzo.

"What the hell is going on here?" Edward demanded as he and the rest of the Quartermaine's gathered around the scene. "Get your filthy paws of my granddaughter."

"Skye, what is going on?" Alan asked looking towards his daughter before glaring at a snickering Tracy.

"You see Alan," Luke began turning toward the Quartermaine's and swaying slightly. "Sonny here is in love with your daughter."

"Luke!" Skye exclaimed, turning red and quickly pulling her hands from Sonny's.

"You're in love with Skye?" Tracy asked with a frown.

"What game are you playing Corinthos," Jax questioned as he stepped through the crowd watching the scene in front of them.

"This isn't a game candyboy," Sonny glared as the Australian stepped between him and Skye. "I love her."

"Sonny," Skye whispered, continuing to plead with him. "Just stop."

"Since when?" Jax asked, referring to Sonny's statement.

"That doesn't matter Jax," Sonny hissed at the blonde.

"Yes it does Corinthos, because the last of my understanding was that you hated her."

"And didn't you once hate her?" Sonny asked leaning in close to Jax. "Until you got to see the real Skye."

"And you've gotten to see the real Skye?"

"Everyone could if they just looked past the image who she once was. She's loyal, passionate, kind, and the most beautiful woman in this room."

"Are we talking about the same Skye?" Tracey asked, looking sickened by Sonny's statement.

"Tracy!" Edward, Alan, and Emily called at once.

"Skye," Sonny spoke, turning her attention away from her family and back towards him. "Please can we just go somewhere and talk about this?"

"No," Jax intervened. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Jax," Skye reprimanded. "I can speak for myself."

"Are you kidding me Skye? You actually believe him?"

"I…"

"He can't just suddenly like you…or even love you." Jax declared angrily before pulling her aside, but being followed by Sonny and half the crowd.

Seeing Skye's wounded expression with Jax's words and worried that she might believe her ex husband, he quickly replied, "Why can't I?"

"Because—

"Has no one ever looked at someone they've known for years, and suddenly seen them in a new light. Seeing them in the right light…seeing how wonderful they really are and suddenly realizing that all you want is to get to know them and to stop regretting all the time you wasted on hating them."

"Yes, just not for Skye," Tracy laughed.

"Hey!" Skye exclaimed.

"This is crazy! You of all people just can't go from hating someone to being in love with them the next moment." Jax hissed at Sonny.

"Just back off Jax," Jason's voiced echoed from behind the blonde.

"Morgan, I can't believe you are supporting this." As Jax continued to voice his complaints, Sonny took the opportunity to step around the Australian, pulling Skye towards him.

"Skye," he spoke softy, framing her face in his palms. "You have to believe that what I've been saying is the truth. This isn't a ploy or a game. All I want is the chance to give you the life and love you deserve."

"Sonny," Skye began looking down briefly before meeting his gaze. "You have to understand why this is so hard for me to except. I don't know why I should even believe you."

"Let me show you," he murmured softly before pressing his lips against her own. The kiss lasted but a moment, before a pair of angry hands suddenly pulled him from Skye. Stumbling backwards from the force, Sonny was unable to avoid the fist that quickly flew towards his face.

"Jax!" he distantly heard Skye yell, before his world went black.

TBC


	23. Waking to Reality Part II

Beyond Recollection: _A Sonny & Skye FanFiction_

Chapter Twenty-two: Waking to Reality Part II

* * *

Sore was no where close to what Sonny was feeling. His head and neck throbbed painfully, the slightest movement causing him to wince. The only safe movement seemed to be blinking but even this action sent a sharp jolt to the pounding in his head.

"What happened to me?" he thought out loud.

"You were unconscious Sonny," Skye's soft voice answered. Snapping his eyes opened, Sonny sat up with a start, wincing at the pain it caused his neck.

"Take it easy," she coaxed, gently pushing him back against something soft.

"Where am I?" he asked not daring to open his eyes just yet.

"You're on my couch," Skye replied pressing something cold against his head. "Don't worry, your body guards here refused to leave your side."

"Sonny?" Jason's voice sounded beside him. "You ok?"

"Jason?" Sonny opened his eyes at the sound of his friend's voice. Looking around the unfamiliar room of Skye's lake house, Sonny was greeted with the familiar faces of his best friends.

"Sir, do you need a doctor?" Max asked, standing beside Jason, a worried expression on his face.

"No…no I'm ok," he replied looking up from where he sat between Skye and Jason. "My head and neck are just killing me." Sitting up slowly, he pulled the icepack Skye held from his head, expressing without words that he didn't need it.

Understanding, she wordlessly placed the melting pack on the coffee table in front of them. Watching her hand move to her own lap, Sonny pulled it back to his, lacing her fingers with his own. When she did not pull it away, Sonny couldn't help the small flash of dimples he showed her before turning to the two men at his left.

"How long have I been out?"

"About an hour and a half," Jason answered.

"Please tell me candy boy isn't that strong," he joked using his free hand to rub his aching neck.

"No," Jason replied with a short laugh. "You fell back against the blackjack table."

"Don't worry," Max smiled. "Candy boy has a bruise of his own." Slightly confused, Sonny watched Max gesture to the person to his right, Skye. "That's one hell of a right hook she's got."

"What?" Sonny asked with a grin as he turned back towards Skye. "You socked candy boy?"

"I merely expressed my anger and outrage towards his constant need to protect and defend me, when I am perfectly capable of doing it myself."

"You socked candy boy," he laughed.

"You're enjoying this too much," Skye grinned.

"And then you brought me here?" he questioned softly. "To your house."

"Well, considering it was my ex who attacked you, and that the Haunted Star had currently been sailing not to far from here…I thought this was…convenient," she finished awkwardly and with a slight blush.

Sonny smiled at her sudden shyness, and watched as she rose quickly. "I'm just going to put this in the kitchen…so it doesn't leak," Skye spoke quickly, reaching for the drooping icepack, before heading through the door Sonny now knew as her kitchen.

"You sure you're ok Sonny?" Jason asked.

"Yea, I'm fine," he reassured. "Just a little bump on the head." With another glance towards the direction Skye had left, Sonny turned back to the two men and continued, "You guys can head out. I'm fine, I swear," he assured quickly. "I'm going to stick around for a bit."

* * *

Emerging from the kitchen Skye was surprised to see her living room empty. At first she thought that her guest had left, but as she stepped fully into the room she spotted Sonny examining the photos on her mantle. Taking a deep breath Skye moved slowly towards Sonny, wondering if maybe she was the one who had suddenly gone crazy.

Jax and her family surly thought she was and had protested strongly against anything to do with Sonny as she had followed Jason and Max off the ship. Though Skye truly appreciated Jax as a friend, she hated her ex-husband's protectiveness and his "all knowing" attitude at times. Finally in control her herself and her drinking, Skye was not about to let anyone else control her life but herself.

When Jax had abruptly pulled Sonny from their kiss, Skye had been flooded with anger. Surprisingly to her, Sonny's kiss caused a deep flutter in her stomach and each kiss managed to leave her breathless. No one had ever chased after her like this, especially someone she had been on less than amiable terms with for the last four years. Walking closer to him, a chill brushed across her arms as she remembered his lips on her skin and she suddenly thought that maybe she wouldn't be that crazy if she didn't ask him to leave.

"I like this one," he spoke softly, once mindful of her body next to his. Her eyes followed his hand as it came to rest on the photograph of her and Emily smiling and laughing at each other in Lila's rose garden.

"That one is my favorite," Skye replied with a smile.

"I'm sorry that you had to leave your opening," he admitted turning to her. "But I'm glad you left." He ended with a smile and taking a step closer.

"It's not your fault Sonny," Skye said before awkwardly stepping away from his close proximity. "We need to really talk about 'this' anyway," she added, motioning to the two of them.

"_This_ meaning us?" he smiled, taking another step closer.

"Yes…wait, no. There is no us, that's what need to talk about," she spoke nervously, her earlier hesitations overwhelming her again.

"What are you scared of?" he asked. "I promise you that I'm not trying to trick or hurt you. And I promise I'm telling you the truth when I say that I love you."

"That's what's scaring me Sonny," she admitted. "Yesterday we weren't even friends, but today you wake from a dream and you love me?"

"It was a very long dream if that helps," he added playfully. "And very realistic," he added with a glance of her body hugged tightly in her dress. He smiled as a blush crept across her cheeks and her eyes went wide.

"We…we had…in your dream we…"

"Had sex?" he smiled at her nervous attempt to say the words. "Yes, we had sex."

"Oh my," Skye exclaimed crossing her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling shy, before taking a shaky seat on the end of the couch.

"Don't worry," he assured. "We where living together."

"Living together?" She exclaimed with shock.

"I don't want to scare you away Skye," Sonny stated honestly as he sat down beside her, leaving a comfortable space between them, only for her sake. "We don't have to talk about the dream anymore. It doesn't even matter now, because you're really here and this is all real."

"But it does matter," she admitted, looking at him. "It was that dream caused you're feelings for me. Now you're here feeling all those same feelings, feelings that I know nothing about, and I feel…I feel pressured."

"I don't want you to feel pressured Skye," Sonny spoke softly. "And I'm sorry that I've been coming on so strong. I should have never even kissed you until you were comfortable. I'm sorry if I've scared you."

"What's scaring me now…is that I am comfortable with you Sonny." Looking down, unable to look at him, she chose to keep her eyes shut as she continued. "I can't deny that I never felt anything when you kissed me tonight, because I did. It just scares me how quickly I am getting comfortable with you. Everything is moving so fast, and I feel like I am the one who is dreaming."

"You're not dreaming, Skye," he said slowing moving his hand to hers, causing her eyes to drift to his gaze. "And I never wanted to rush you in anyway. I won't move this any further until you say you're ready." Releasing her hand from his own, he ending all physical contact. "And if you're never ready I'll understand and I will leave you alone."

A soft silence entered the room and Sonny found himself holding his breath as he waiting for her reply. Hoping that she would give him a chance, he lowered his gaze with worry of rejection. When her lips made sudden contact with his own, Sonny could not help it when his eyes widened with shock and relief.

Sonny let her control the pace, simply enjoying the way her lips felt against his own, warm…soft…_exquisite_. As the kiss progressed Sonny realized Skye had leaned in closer to him and that her palm was resting against his chest for support. Letting his own hands move from their anchored place at his side, he rested one on the hand at his chest and the other to tangle through her hair. Inwardlycelebrating, Sonny finally broke the kiss with a large smile.

Brushing his hand through her hair before resting it against her cheek, the smile he gave her expressed every feeling he had tried to convey with words that night. When she smiled back at him, cheeks warm and blushed, Sonny knew his dreams had finally come true.

As the night grew late Sonny and Skye grew closer. Not leaving the couch once, they talked for hours straight. Learning each others life, fears, experiences, and thoughts as if they were their own. Throughout the conversations they stay huddled together on that couch, fingers laced and resting in their laps.

When a soft yawn whispered past Skye's lips, Sonny turned to the windows and discovered the night had quickly faded to morning. The sun was rising and it was a new day.

"I can't believe its morning?" Skye spoke with awe as Sonny turned his gaze from the painted sky, smiling towards her. "I liked this," she admitted softly. "I liked this a lot."

"Me too," Sonny replied, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss to her lips. "Especially kissing you. Much tastier than the dream you," he grinned at her laughter and kissed her again.

"What was your favorite part of it?" Skye asked, ducking under his arm and settling against his chest. "Your favorite memory I guess?"

"Aside from kissing you?" he grinned.

"Yes," she laughed. "Aside from kissing me."

"Then," he paused, looking down as the memory resurfaced. "Then, it was when you gave me my mother's cross." He looked at her with a warm expression and she was surprised as a sole tear fell against his cheek. Looking down at his bare chest, a sad smile decorated his features. "I didn't even think about that memory as just being part of a dream till right now. I'm still expecting it to be right here," he stated somberly, patting his chest. "My mother's cross was lost a long time ago, a was still a child, and in all my happiest memories of her I can see her wearing that cross. I guess it symbolized the better days, before my stepfather came into the picture...before my father left us."

"I wish I could make that real for you Sonny," Skye spoke gently, giving a comforting squeeze to their interlocked hand.

"All that matters to me now is that right now is real…that your real and I am not still dreaming."

"You're not dreaming," Skye smiled as she raised her head, pressing a kiss against his throat. "I don't think you'd let Jax get the better of you in your own dream," she teased, causing him to laugh deeply.

"Hey," Sonny exclaimed in defense. "I hit my head!"

"You're just upset because you didn't get to see my _sock_ it to him," she laughed.

"Yeah, well from now on I'll make sure Max has a camera on him at all times, and you just sock him when ever you feel the need to."

"You'd like that wouldn't you," Skye stated, laughing at his wide grin.

"Definitely."

"What am I going to do with you?" She teased sitting up a bit, stretching out her back, which was sore now from being in one position for so long. "Oh my g-d!"

"What?" Sonny sat up, worried about her sudden outburst.

"Wait here!" Skye ordered, scampering from the couch, running towards her bedroom.

"Skye?" he called after her. "What is it?"

"Stay in there!" her voice echoed into the living room.

"What are you up to?" he questioned as she emerged holding a small jewelry box in front of her. She sat beside him and placed the box on the table, rapidly searching through its contents.

"I can't give you your mothers cross, but I want you to have one that was always special to me," she answered warmly.

"Skye," he began, awed by her tenderness. "You don't have to give me your cross."

"No!" she exclaimed, pausing her search to turn towards him. "I want you to have it."

"You said it was special to you. I don't want to take that from you."

"But it will be even more special if I can give it to you," she smiled, brushing his cheek before turning to continue her hunt. "Besides, I haven't worn it in years. My Uncle Stewart bought it from an antique shop because my initials where engraved on the back."

"S.C.," Sonny stated, finding it funny that she once shared his initials.

"Actually, no," she began. "It's tangled, hold on just a second," she mumbled.

"What do you mean though?" Sonny asked confused by her statement.

"Skye is actually my middle name. I took it after I left Pine Valley. I was starting over, new town, new job, new everything, so I guess a new name was fitting. My real name is Antoinette."

"Antoinette huh?" Sonny grinned. "I like it."

"Well don't you start calling me that," she demanded playfully. "I hated it. Oh! Got it!" Turning towards Sonny, she clasped the cross and chain against her chest. "Now stick out your hand and close your eyes," she commanded with a glow in her eyes.

"But I already know what it is," Sonny grinned, but complied as she raised an eyebrow. Sticking out his left hand, warm tingles passed through his arm as Skye pressed the cool chain and cross into his hand and closed his fingers around it.

Something was familiar—very familiar about what he suddenly held.

"Ok, open your eyes, Sonny."

A choked sob filled his throat as Sonny looked down at the object he held. Skye watched as Sonny stared motionless at the cross, feeling content as she watched the sudden play of emotions across his features. As tears began to form and cascade down his face, Skye began to worry that she had made a mistake.

"I'm sorry Sonny," she whispered, upset with herself for not being more compassionate to the situation. "I just wanted to make your memory real. I'm sorry. I know it's not your mothers but—."

"Skye," he cut her off, slowly raising his tearful eyes to look into her sadden ones. "It is."

"What?" she questioned with amazement.

"This is my mother's cross," he spoke with a dream like tone. "It's hers."

"But…but…oh my g-d," she paused unable to find the words. "Are you sure?"

"A.C. is engraved on the back. My mother's name was Adella Corinthos…AC," he smiled with wonder. "My stepfather sold it years ago…"

"And my uncle…"

"And your uncle bought it." Sonny shook his head with astonishment, unable believe what had happened. "I can't believe this," he exclaimed before pulling Skye into a tight embrace. "You're amazing." As his tears streamed into her hair, he became aware of her own against his shoulder. "You're amazing and I love you. You may not feel that yet, but I am driven to spend the rest of our lives convincing you. You **literally** made my dream come true Skye, and I love you so much."

As Skye slowly lifted her head from his shoulder, Sonny saw in her eyes exactly what he hoped to see…acceptance.

She belonged with him.

Whether it was in their dreams or present life, they were meant to be together.

Together, always and forever.

_The End_


End file.
